

Spies Like Us: How We All Helped Build Prism - mxfh
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-12/spies-like-us-how-we-all-helped-build-prism

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jwoldan
Seems like this article plays a bit loose with the facts. Apache Hadoop and
MapReduce are based on Google white papers, but Google didn't actually develop
either. And is it that Google couldn't afford Oracle software, or they knew
they could build something better?

However, the main thrust is valid: the same data that is valuable to Facebook
and Google (and their advertisers) is valuable to the NSA.

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herge
One of the core principles of free software (as in the free software
foundation) is no restrictions on the use or distribution of that software.
This also means that if you release a piece of software under a license that
prevents, say, arms manufacturers, dictatorships, or the NSA from using it, it
is not really a free software licence.

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cobrausn
If we are dealing with an organization that routinely lies to congress, how
much respect do you think they give the restrictions you place in some text at
the start of your source code?

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rucker
Herge is saying that the free (libre) nature of free software means that these
organizations must also be free to use it.

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joshbaptiste
Yep indeed the likes of Google/Facebook/Yahoo open source technologies have
made it much easier for the government to create the tools needed to sift
through terabytes of data, yet even if Hadoop/Map Reduce etc... were closed
source I'm sure the big G would have come up with their own solution.

