←back to thread

Free software scares normal people

(danieldelaney.net)
917 points cryptophreak | 1 comments | 30 Oct 25 15:07 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
mna_ ◴[31 Oct 25 09:13 UTC] No.45769903[source]▶
For me, it's the fact that I'm running code written by some random people. The code could be malicious. I don't know unless I audit it myself and I have no time for that. Remember the XZ Utils backdoor thing from a few months ago? Well how many backdoors are there in other FOSS stuff?
replies(1): >>45769928 #
mbork_pl ◴[31 Oct 25 09:17 UTC] No.45769928[source]▶
How is that specific to FOSS?
replies(1): >>45770045 #
a96 ◴[31 Oct 25 09:37 UTC] No.45770045[source]▶
It's one of the main features, just incoherently rambled and backwards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Free_Software_Definition#T...

> The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Free software can be audited for backdoors. Closed can not. Their backdoors will stay there indefinitely.

replies(2): >>45770115 #>>45770779 #
fragmede ◴[31 Oct 25 09:46 UTC] No.45770115[source]▶
disassembler and decompilers exist.
replies(1): >>45770269 #
goodpoint ◴[31 Oct 25 10:08 UTC] No.45770269[source]▶
This statement is ridiculous.
replies(1): >>45770297 #
1. fragmede ◴[31 Oct 25 10:12 UTC] No.45770297{3}[source]▶
A music CD installing a stealthed persistent kernel-level rootkit on your Windows PC would also be ridiculous, yet that's exactly what Sony BMG's rootkit in 2005 did. And guess how it was found?