Comrades Open Windows to Linux

The Financial Express (India) ^ | October 09, 2006 | M SARITA VARMA, INDRANIL CHAKRABORTY & PRAGATI VERMA

[Golden Eagle]

Linux or open source seems to thrive wherever Left governments rule. And as Kerala schools log Microsoft out and boot open source systems, Linux world is buzzing with excitement over possibilities in the communist-ruled states. Though West Bengal and Tripura have to go whole hog to adopt a free software model, ideological closeness is more than evident. Kerala, most insiders’ feel, is turning out to be Richard Stallman's happiest hunting ground. His personal vibes with Velikakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan, even from VS's pre-chief minister era, are in play. It’s a picture watching the duo cozying together in a similar attire — Stallman in a crumbled white T-shirt and VS in homely sleeveless white banian. Secretly, people do wonder what Class VII drop-out Marxist patriarch chitchats with whiz-kid of the Red Hat business-model. However, those who attended a Stallman seminar on FOSS, could clearly see that Linux and Left are on the same wavelength.

[antiRepublicrat]

I loved how people showed up to the DeCSS hearings wearing T-shirts printed with DeCSS.

[antiRepublicrat]

Source code is useless without other properly matched executable processes anyway

Huh? Anyway, I like this pretty picture.

It has in it DeCSS, or could have any source code as long as it's 1/8 the size of the photo. Just a few commands will give you an executable from it. BTW, it is itself encrypted, from the site:

...the output of this program has been double-encrypted through ROT13 so as to protect its output. Replace the "decrypt - see note" in the command above with some means of decrypting double-ROT13 (also known as ROT26), in order to make the output usable.

I really hope those foreigners don't figure out ROT26 encryption, or we're sooooo screwed.

[zeugma]

The seminal cryptography textbook Applied Cryptography could be exported, including the source code in it for advanced encryption algorithms. However, the associated disk could not be exported. People typed it in overseas and posted it, and that electronic version was perfectly legal. Essentially the same thing happened with PGP.

Yup. Only lawyers could dream up a situation so nonsensical and stupid. 

On a semi-non-related note. Someone walked off with my copy of Applied Cryptography. I've been missing it ever since. 

 Basically, these export controls hurt our high-tech businesses. Our companies could build high-strength encryption into their software sold here, but had to dumb-down or remove it for overseas sales. This allowed foreigners -- who were equally capable of turning basic public cryptographic knowledge into algorithms -- build encryption into their software, thus giving them an advantage in foreign markets.

Several Russian and Isreali firms capitalized on this. For a while, companies were purposefully locating any employees involved in any meaningful crypto overseas. Talk about a perverse outcome. It almost seemed like the government was trying to claim that foreigners were too stupid to do the math involved. 

[zeugma]

Fortunately for me, I installed the ROT-26 Firefox plugin. It is also useful when I'm designing nuclear weapons for fun and pleasure.

[Golden Eagle]

You need to...

I don't need to do anything, I've already gotten you to flat out admit you don't care if we give advanced technology to our enemies for free, so you have already clearly lost whether you even understand it or not.

[Golden Eagle]

He doesn't answer my questions.

LOL only multiple times including with links. Johnny Liberal here just can't handle the truth, and keeps mumbling the same questions over and over. Defending free tech giveaways to communist regimes is a tough sell, but you sank your ship with your second post admitting you don't care, and all the circle talk in the world can't save you now.

[Golden Eagle]

You would have made a great addition to Bill Clinton's commerce department. Or were you actually in it?

[dennisw]

The cruel fact is operating systems are a mature product and 3rd world nations can do perfectly fine with Linux. I stick with Windows XP but they just need computers that work. Not the latest eye candy (Vista) or cleartype (XP) which I'm a big fan of

[FLAMING DEATH]

The Planned Parenthood/AIDS thing came from an exchange where I criticized GE for giving money to a company that supports Planned Parenthood, and his response was that the money was being used to fight AIDS in Africa...of course, freeing up funds elsewhere for...you guessed it, more abortions.

Whole exchange here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1601565/posts?page=32#32

[graf008]

You keep saying giving away our technology - well I want proof it is ours to begin with (of which you can provide little). Then, I want you to figure out WHY it is given away.

Of course I care if we give away our advanced technology - I care if we give away software that will power a nuclear reactor or program. My point is, Linux is just an operating system. You need more to do such activity.

And I am a leftist because I don't believe Open Source software is as bad as Communism? That is a very laughable statement.

You need quite a bit of education in what Open Source (and all open source licenses is) and what is actually tracable to US government sources. You also need to determine why they distributed the source. I can guarantee you that the majority of the code running on the US Government's Linux servers for any mission critical item is NOT distributed or given away. Only improvements to the OS has been released.

[zeugma]

Well, you're the only one in this discussion with no conservative credentials. Other people on this thread post about things other than computers. You, one the other hand are nothing but a wanker and troll.

[graf008]

You gave a link to SE Linux, and left it at that. I asked you to clarify the technology and code that was contributed, since I couldn't find "Nuclear Reactor 2.2" on that site.

Without US Government code, any person or entity could obtain a copy of Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc and run it. A team of programs in any rogue state could design software on it to power whatever program they want. The core 'technology' you speak of isn't ours to give away - that you fail to grasp.

[antiRepublicrat]

You would have made a great addition to Bill Clinton's commerce department. Or were you actually in it?

Nope, fought against it. This was one example of the people winning over stupid government regulation. PGP is a good example. With every release, written source code (protected under the 1st Amendment) would be sent to Norway, scanned, checked, compiled and released.

BTW, this dissemination of PGP helped dissidents in totalitarian regimes, who could then communicate privately.

Basically, the genie is out of the bottle. The US is no longer the one country that can produce quality programs and encryption (our current advanced encryption standard is Belgian, good for Top Secret). Any effort to seal ourselves off can only hurt us, as the rest of the world passes us.

[Golden Eagle]

Of course I care if we give away our advanced technology

No you don't, you already flat out admitted you don't in post #12, and have been trying to cover it up ever since by talking in circles over and over and mumbling about how beautiful the leftist open source principles are of sharing things with the rest of the world. You can keep on mumbling and denying the obvious but your ship was sunk long ago by your own incriminating admissions.

[zeugma]

The buzzard is big on projection isn't it?

[graf008]

Read my post again. I care if our secretly developed technology is given away. I don't consider Open Source the product of secretly developed technology with intended military purposes. I certainly don't consider it 'ours'. You still fail to answer any question I pose. You have given me the legislation you want passed, now I want to know how the world would be different. Unless you want something else - is it safe you say you just want to ban open source from use in the US?

[Golden Eagle]

Basically, the genie is out of the bottle.

Genies are finite, future improvements are not. You may prefer infinite transfers of free technology that started under Clinton's watch continue indefinitely but I would like to see them stopped.

[graf008]

under Clinton's watch ???? Open Source has its roots long before then....

[Golden Eagle]

I care if our secretly developed technology is given away

No you don't, you already outright admitted you don't in post #12, and all you've done since is ask silly questions and gush about your love of the leftist open source principles. I showed you direct evidence of the works of the NSA, DOE and NASA being given away and you whined I wasn't specific enough. Perfect example of liberal behavior, and you've been repeatedly outed.

[graf008]

It wasn't specific enough - security enhancements? Please also show why it was given away. Also compare those enhancements to others made by outside individuals / organizations and tell me that the technology didn't exist. I said our technology. I would care if the Federal Government gave away the full software that powers our nuclear or space exploration programs. They don't. All you have given 'evidence' for is the US government voluntarily gave back some code that enhanced the ability of Linux to fend off hackers. I want specific code details as well as the percentage of the Linux kernel that has been written by the US government, since you seem to think Linux is OUR technology (my guess is so is FreeBSD, Darwin, HURD, etc). On a side note, what if that same code included some backdoors. Our adversaries use the code and we can instantly take over their machines.