Richard Stallman (UNIX legend) talks about back doors and metadata

[Recursion]

(For those who aren't nerds, Stallman is the guy who invented what eventually became Linux and Open Source software in general*, as well as some of the most important programming tools out there.)

* Techies: before you flame, try to find a better single-sentence description of GNU.

http://techrights.org/2013/06/27/techbytes-episode-79/

RMS: Well, it’s not a back door. If AT&T agreed to connect its computers to surveillance of the NSA, that doesn’t involve a back door. Those computers belong to AT&T, so if AT&T has full control over them, which it should, then AT&T could also connect to the NSA. You see, these are somewhat different issues. The first issue, which Free software is part of, is that you should have control over your computer. Now, that’s violated with proprietary software if your computer is running, say, Windows, or Mac OS, or if it’s an iThing, or most kinds of Android products, then you don’t control it, some company is controlling it and making it do things that you’ll like. So the first thing is, [incomprehensible] says that the computer should have full control over it.

But that doesn’t mean that when you’re using some company’s service, if a company has full control over the computers that implement that service, which it should, that doesn’t mean the company will treat you right. That’s a separate issue. It’s wrong for [another] company to have control over these computers and if AT&T uses proprietary software, it [that other company] fully has control over AT&T’s computers and that’s wrong. However, making sure AT&T has complete control over its computers doesn’t guarantee that AT&T will treat us right.

RSS: I was thinking about a different scenario where the company that you interact with might itself backdoored in the sense that the firewalls, they might be using older hardware and might be using — maybe — back door by design, so that the NSA, for example, can quietly and silently infiltrate and capture data, for example, [from] firewalls or Intel chips for example.

RMS: It’s possible, and not just necessarily Intel chips because the Pentagon suspects that devices made by Huawei might have some back door of the Chinese government…

Stallman has been trying to get people to avoid "Cloud" architectures for a while, though they are more of a security trade-off than a security problem simply.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I bow before Stallman's wisdom

and bless him for inventing teh Linux.
The very concept of cloud left me feeling..."uh...nooooo".
TY for the information....

[hootinholler]

10. Stallman did not invent Linux

He formed the notion of an independently written open source Unix like OS. He sort of abandoned that because at the time, Berkley Science Department wrote BSD Unix in a clean environment.

Now there is a lot we have to thank him for, one is open source software. Another is a recursive acronym: GNU - GNU is Not Unix. Then there's emacs, one of the best operating systems out there and a pretty good editor.

[Recursion]

17. He invented the GPL

And there's no Linux without GNU

[hootinholler]

18. Yes he did a lot of cool shit

Linux wasn't one of them. The notion that Linux wouldn't exist without the GNU project is farcical, Richard would tell you that himself.

I have a lot of respect for the man, he created a workable model for collaborative development from which many projects were inspired. The Free Software Foundation and the GPL filled a need at the time and continue to. People like Linus Torvalds and those that founded the Apache Foundation, Git and the Creative Commons, etc. have run with it, extending it in more limited versions which are more commercially friendly.

But the recursive acronym is a nice touch.

[SecularMotion]

14. You can thank Linus Torvalds for Linux

Linus Benedict Torvalds (Swedish: born December 28, 1969) is a Finnish American software engineer, who was the principal force behind the development of the Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator. He also created the revision control system Git as well as the diving log software Subsurface. He was honored, along with Shinya Yamanaka, with the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize by the Technology Academy Finland "in recognition of his creation of a new open source operating system for computers leading to the widely used Linux kernel"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds

[RC]

2. If you value you privacy, the cloud is not where it is at.

Why should I pay forever for something I can use for free on my own computer?

[LisaLynne]

3. Yep, couldn't agree more. BUt they are driving hard to the (cloud) hoop. nt

[Recursion]

7. Cannot overstate how true that is (nt)

[HiddenAgenda63]

4. Online can be a scary place, sometimes.

If it exits online, invariably it can and may be inappropriately hacked / viewed, at some point. I like the transparency and the fact that it makes it more difficult for governments or corporations to lie to citizens / customers, but I regret and often bemoan the fact that it can also be used by governments or corporations against citizens / customers. Everything has a disclaimer, privacy policy or EULA...I try not to activate anything proprietary, or show preferences that can be tracked, or sign up for almost anything...

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. I do have to laff at this bit tho:

regarding the interview, the site says, about the transcript of the interview:
"some parts were too incomprehensible due to low recording quality,"

which I should think is the last thing one would expect from a puter site when interviewing a computer genius...

[Recursion]

9. Heh. He's a horrible speaker, to be fair

I saw him speak once at a conference. Great topic; couldn't understand a word he said.

[Posteritatis]

16. Saw him once myself

He spent about half the talk (and all of the Q&A) insulting the audience.

[justiceischeap]

6. I use the cloud for a few things... such as

storing my photography so I have an off-site back-up and to store important documents, like my renters' insurance policy, so I have an off-site back-up.

As bad as the NSA spying is, there are just some things I don't care if the government sees about me. I'm a pretty darn boring person who doesn't do too much illegally.

[RC]

8. But that chain of who you called, e-mailed and who called and E-mailed you and who they also called

and E-mailed, can be made into a case of you being tangled up with the worst of the terrorists.
They would apply that 6 points removed or whatever it is called now. We are all guilty now.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. 6 degrees of separation, I think is the term.

[RC]

12. Thank you.

I'm getting up in age enough that my head is getting full. I need to do some brain washing or cleaning or something.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. You live long enough, Mother Nature will do a RAM dump for ya.

[RC]

15. That's what I am afraid of.

Not really funny though. It happened to my mother.