[Arm-netbook] Verifying firmware

[Russell Hyer]

I thought the whole argument of libre/free vs. open source had
absolutely nothing to do with the source itself, but it's about the
essential freedoms as granted in the software. So, in some respects,
Apple and Microsoft allow developers to see the source of at least
some of the systems (when you're developing on their systems), but the
systems that one creates in this way are non-free. And open source has
allowed companies like Google and co to whitewash the whole idea of
being free to program. (Luckily, their reach hasn't extended to
cooking food for ourselves, or we'd have to invent a government plan
to reduce/add/modify salt/sugar content in food. No wait, such
programs do exist!)

Russell
If days were numbered, this one would probably be 23...

On 23/08/2016, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <lkcl at lkcl.net> wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 6:50 PM, Henrik Nordström
> <henrik at henriknordstrom.net> wrote:
>> sön 2016-08-21 klockan 21:55 +0100 skrev Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton:
>>
>>> >
>>> > From a security point of view, open source code
>>>
>>>  no it isn't... *libre* source code is...
>>
>> I would love to hear your elaboration on how libre source code is more
>> secure than open source. I don't see how libre have any relevance
>> there.
>>
>> Having access to the complete readable sourcecode and being developed
>> in a trustworthy environment is very relevant. But that is by no means
>> unique to libre or even proven to be an natural effect of libre.
>
>  thanks for picking up on that, henrik.  so you're saying that if the
> source is "open" it's no different from "libre" because in both cases
> the full source is available.
>
>  so it would only be instances where the source *isn't* available (and
> the binary was encrypted with an RSA key, then loaded into a separate
> virtual memory space which was made inaccessible to even read)... but
> that would, yes, be an instance where source... wasn't available :)
>
> l.
>
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