
NSA Asked Linus Torvalds To Install Backdoors Into GNU/Linux - davidgerard
http://falkvinge.net/2013/11/17/nsa-asked-linus-torvalds-to-install-backdoors-into-gnulinux/
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rlpb
"GNU/Linux" is GNU and RMS' insistence on embedding provenance into the title
of every project gone too far here. Linus is only in a position to install a
backdoor into Linux. GNU does not come in to it.

Just as RMS insists that every operating system that uses GNU software is
"GNU/something", so in this case installing a backdoor in Linux by Linus
Torvalds can only be Linux and not GNU/Linux.

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mtgx
Wow, if this is true, then Linux Torvalds was kind of a dick for even daring
to be _outraged_ at the earlier accusation that Linux could have a backdoor in
it. I mean he basically called everyone idiots for even _thinking_ that such a
thing could be possible.

I'm not saying he accepted to do it. In fact I'm pretty sure he said no to
them. But him acting so "shocked" about the accusation earlier, when he knew
that they did ask him to do that, feels pretty disgusting to me.

He should've admitted that he was asked to do it, but didn't do it. What's the
worst that could've happened?! It would've just invited more people to take a
closer look at the Linux kernel to make sure Linus is telling the truth, but
there's nothing wrong with that.

So even though I doubt he did it, I think much less of him now, for not being
truthful to the community, and even attacking the ones who dared to question
him about it.

~~~
htns
Here's the context:
[http://lwn.net/Articles/568202/](http://lwn.net/Articles/568202/)

~~~
jfoster
It sounds 99% as though he was joking rather than trying to seriously convey
that he had been approached.

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rlpb
I think the truth is still ambiguous. It's easy to write off that "statement"
from Linus as a joke. Here, only that episode is referenced as the evidence.

This may well be intentional. If the NSA did indeed make the request, then
Linus has sidestepped the issue by retaining his ability to claim that it was
a joke.

However, this ambiguity (intentional or not; truthful or not) does make the
statement "NSA Asked Linux Torvalds to Install Backdoors" dubious at best. We
still do not really know, since we do not know if that his previous statement
was a joke or not. Just because somebody else is able to reference the same
statement does not change this matter, even if this person is his father.

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mschuster91
I do wonder why the NSA even had the idea to ask Torvalds to commit a
backdoor. After all, they know that the code is open and inspectable by
anyone...

~~~
davidgerard
Remember the earlier hack, where someone got into the CVS mirror of the main
git repo and changed "==" to "=" on a check against UID?

[http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0311.0/0621.h...](http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0311.0/0621.html)
[http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0311.0/0635.h...](http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0311.0/0635.html)

There's lots of introducible security holes that are arguably typos. See also
[http://underhanded.xcott.com/](http://underhanded.xcott.com/)

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reiz
Not surprised about that. Hope that more people will use open source. It's the
best way to prevent security leaks in software.

