Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (3236 mails)

[samelash@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Samy Elashmawy)]

At 07:03 AM 1/23/2000 -1000, George Toft wrote:
>Mark Gray wrote:
>> 
>> "John F. Eldredge" <eldredge@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>> 
>> > root@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:root@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
>> > Fred A. Miller wrote:
>> >
>> > > The National Security Agency has contracted for a secure
>> > > Linux operating
>> > > system.  http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/web-nsalinux-01-17-00.asp
>> >
>> > I suspect that this WON'T be open source software. :)
>> 
>> Which brings up an interesting point about the GPL copyright -- if
>> they modify the kernel, they are required to make all the source code
>> available to their customers and they are required to put the derived
>> program under the GPL copyright.  (They cannot put _any_ additional
>> restrictions on the distribution of the entire source code package.)

They just redistributed  it to the other machines. Kind of like Mick$oft
selling IE for free. They did not pay for it , so they are not a customer.

>How do you define customer?  The NSA is a government entity.  If
>they install Linux on NSA Government computers, it would seem there 
>are no customers and no redistribution has taken place.
>
>Then there's Bud's comment: "Bwaahaahaahaahaaaaaa!"  You would
>expect moral behavior from an organization that has been working
>with Microsoft for almost 10 years on the ability to tap and trace
>any e-mail message sent from the Windows platform (I hope they
>don't kill me for saying that).  Do we understand now why the Windows
>API is proprietary, and why the Chinese and French are on the
>verge of outlawing closed-source operating systems for their 
>respective governments?
>
>> And in fact they may well want to release their modifications, since
>> it has become widely accepted that open scrutiny is the best way to
>> (eventually) assure the quality of software security, and a secure and
>> privacy protecting Internet has increasingly become a prime national
>> concern.  (They could, however produce binary only kernel modules --
>> but the type of security they are after would not be achievable
>> without improvements to the core features of the kernel.)
>
>From a cloak and dagger standpoint (I've known a few spooks), this
>would not happen.  They are more paranoid than I am, and any 
>improvement they make they would keep to themselves as a strategic 
>advantage over anyone else using the same platform (ie, the Chinese).  
>Anyone who thinks the Chinese and the Russians are the NSA's friends 
>is sadly mistaken.  The cold war is not over - it has moved underground.
>
>Nationalism is alive and well throughout the world.  I am not a
>nationalist, nor a bigot, but having spent the last 20 years doing 
>things that would get me imprisoned or killed (if caught) has given
>me a differnt perspective compared to those who believe CNN or the
>newspapers.
>
>Anyone wonder why I'm changing careers?
>-- 
>George Toft                                  http://www.georgetoft.com
>
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