Comment by whack

4 years ago

If an open-source project adopt a trusting attitude, nation-states can and will take advantage of this, in order to inject dangerous vulnerabilities. Telling University professors to not pen-test OSS does not stop nation-states from doing the same thing secretly. It just sweeps the problem under the rug.

Would I prefer to live in a world where everyone behaved in a trustworthy manner in OSS? Absolutely. But that is not the world we live in. A professor highlighting this fact, and forcing people to realize the dangers in trusting people, does more good than harm.

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On a non-serious and humorous note, this episode reminds me of the Sokal Hoax. Most techies/scientists I've met were very appreciative of this hoax, even though it wasn't conducted with pre-approval from the subjects. It is interesting to see the shoe on the other foot