6 ms·

This is interesting. The jailbreak community is a weird place on the edge of free software- normally, "just open source it" is an easy answer to security concer

This is interesting. The jailbreak community is a weird place on the edge of free software- normally, "just open source it" is an easy answer to security concerns, but there are understandable reasons not to open-source exploits. However, the whole competition thing between evad3rs and saurik seems kind of strange. Honestly, I wish Apple would just get with the times and allow an appropriate degree of freedom on their devices; even if evad3rs are as innocent as they claim in this instance, forcing users to install potentially sketchy obfuscated third-party system-level code in order to do basic things like set default apps seems like a recipe for eventual disaster.

elboru 13y ago
> but there are understandable reasons not to open-source exploits Legit question, What reasons could there be?
- voltagex_ 13y ago
  Two of them come to mind: * They don't want the exploit "stolen" or reused by another party (for good or evil) * They don't want to make it too easy for Apple to patch it.
  - SquareWheel 13y ago
    This exploit was already patched by Apple in the next version, as far as I understand.
- schneidmaster 13y ago
  Yeah, what voltagex said. Same reason you shouldn't open-source a zero day exploit on any website without responsibly disclosing it to the company and giving them a reasonable amount of time to patch it.
  - nwh 13y ago
    They've basically made it open to the world, Apple has worked out closed sourced jailbreaks before with no help. Jailbreaks like Star (jailbreak.me) were just a PDF binary with absolutely no clue as to the contents or method of exploitation.
    - comex 13y ago
      This is true, but making an exploit open source, as opposed to merely available, makes it significantly easier to weaponize for people who might not already be experts in exploiting iOS.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
    - derefr 13y ago
      Right, but the easier they make it, the faster it gets patched. The entire point of a jailbreak is to survive in the wild long enough to help people.
greenlakejake 13y ago
> Honestly, I wish Apple would just get with the times and allow an appropriate degree of freedom on their devices An appropriate degree of freedom is different for you and eight year old children or grandparents. The majority of iOS users have no use for the freedom jailbreakers desire and Apple is creating software for the majority of its customers.
- hollerith 13y ago
  That's not an argument against a button in Settings that says, "I understand the risks, now unlock my device."
  - eropple 13y ago
    Yes, it is, because people will press it because it's there to press and proceed to hose their devices. If you're not satisfied by those restrictions, use Android. (I do, because I'm not.)
    - hollerith 13y ago
      The non-technical iOS users I know would never change a setting in Settings they do not understand (unless someone they trust, namely me, tells them to do it). If that is not enough, the unlocking process can be as complicated as needed to discourage careless unlocking. Most people, when asked, e.g., to convert a decimal to a hexadecimal or to engage their frontal lobes in some other way, stop being careless. Remember that the only point I'm trying to make is that it is not strictly necessary for Apple to do their best to keep motivated technical users from escaping their "jail" to prevent kids and grandmothers from harming themselves. And does anyone actually believe that protecting naive users is the only reason Apple makes it as hard as possible to jailbreak iOS?
      - techsupporter 13y ago
        > The non-technical iOS users I know would never change a setting in Settings they do not understand I wish I had your circle of non-technical folks. I've been called (from other people's phones, no less) numerous times asking why data doesn't work (they deleted all the APNs from an Android phone), why their picture messages don't go through (they changed the MMSC URL to their homepage), why voicemails stopped (they set the voicemail service number to their own number), and several more. Changeable settings are like mountains; they're messed with because they are there.

elboru 13y ago

> but there are understandable reasons not to open-source exploits Legit question, What reasons could there be?

voltagex_ 13y ago
Two of them come to mind: * They don't want the exploit "stolen" or reused by another party (for good or evil) * They don't want to make it too easy for Apple to patch it.
- SquareWheel 13y ago
  This exploit was already patched by Apple in the next version, as far as I understand.
schneidmaster 13y ago
Yeah, what voltagex said. Same reason you shouldn't open-source a zero day exploit on any website without responsibly disclosing it to the company and giving them a reasonable amount of time to patch it.
- nwh 13y ago
  They've basically made it open to the world, Apple has worked out closed sourced jailbreaks before with no help. Jailbreaks like Star (jailbreak.me) were just a PDF binary with absolutely no clue as to the contents or method of exploitation.
  - comex 13y ago
    This is true, but making an exploit open source, as opposed to merely available, makes it significantly easier to weaponize for people who might not already be experts in exploiting iOS.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
  - derefr 13y ago
    Right, but the easier they make it, the faster it gets patched. The entire point of a jailbreak is to survive in the wild long enough to help people.

greenlakejake 13y ago

> Honestly, I wish Apple would just get with the times and allow an appropriate degree of freedom on their devices An appropriate degree of freedom is different for you and eight year old children or grandparents. The majority of iOS users have no use for the freedom jailbreakers desire and Apple is creating software for the majority of its customers.

hollerith 13y ago
That's not an argument against a button in Settings that says, "I understand the risks, now unlock my device."
- eropple 13y ago
  Yes, it is, because people will press it because it's there to press and proceed to hose their devices. If you're not satisfied by those restrictions, use Android. (I do, because I'm not.)
  - hollerith 13y ago
    The non-technical iOS users I know would never change a setting in Settings they do not understand (unless someone they trust, namely me, tells them to do it). If that is not enough, the unlocking process can be as complicated as needed to discourage careless unlocking. Most people, when asked, e.g., to convert a decimal to a hexadecimal or to engage their frontal lobes in some other way, stop being careless. Remember that the only point I'm trying to make is that it is not strictly necessary for Apple to do their best to keep motivated technical users from escaping their "jail" to prevent kids and grandmothers from harming themselves. And does anyone actually believe that protecting naive users is the only reason Apple makes it as hard as possible to jailbreak iOS?
    - techsupporter 13y ago
      > The non-technical iOS users I know would never change a setting in Settings they do not understand I wish I had your circle of non-technical folks. I've been called (from other people's phones, no less) numerous times asking why data doesn't work (they deleted all the APNs from an Android phone), why their picture messages don't go through (they changed the MMSC URL to their homepage), why voicemails stopped (they set the voicemail service number to their own number), and several more. Changeable settings are like mountains; they're messed with because they are there.