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XZ Utils

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  • A Offline
    A Offline
    Amarnath S
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Not sure whether this is a Leslie, but looks serious enough https://www.wired.com/story/xz-backdoor-everything-you-need-to-know/ Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

    R Richard DeemingR P J J 6 Replies Last reply
    0
    • A Amarnath S

      Not sure whether this is a Leslie, but looks serious enough https://www.wired.com/story/xz-backdoor-everything-you-need-to-know/ Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

      R Offline
      R Offline
      RainHat
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      Worrying, but not an argument against open source. Backdoors in closed source software are only discovered when they are in use.

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • A Amarnath S

        Not sure whether this is a Leslie, but looks serious enough https://www.wired.com/story/xz-backdoor-everything-you-need-to-know/ Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

        Richard DeemingR Offline
        Richard DeemingR Offline
        Richard Deeming
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        It's an argument against big companies relying to OSS projects without sponsoring them. If there's only one maintainer, who's doing it in their spare time, and lots of angry people demanding "urgrentz!!!1!eleventy!" fixes, then the temptation to let someone else take over is going to be very strong. For example, this support ticket for FFMPEG[^]. Nine days after posting it, some twerp from Microsoft decided to chase it, adding:

        Quote:

        Hi, This is a high priority ticket and the FFmpeg version is currently used in a highly visible product in Microsoft. We have customers experience issues with Caption during Teams Live Event. Please help,

        The bug tracker is manned by unpaid volunteers, and Microsoft have refused to sponsor the project, or pay for a support contract. :sigh: (I'd have been inclined to suggest they post their question on one of Microsoft's own myriad support/feedback systems, where getting a non-canned response within nine days would be a miracle! Either that, or tell them to try running sfc /scannow, some variant of dism, and if it still didn't work, to format and reinstall their computer, and create a new user account. Because that's *always* the solution according to Microsoft!)


        "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

        "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined" - Homer

        M R J 3 Replies Last reply
        0
        • A Amarnath S

          Not sure whether this is a Leslie, but looks serious enough https://www.wired.com/story/xz-backdoor-everything-you-need-to-know/ Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

          P Offline
          P Offline
          Peter_in_2780
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          And it affects/ed a tiny fraction of the Linux world - only "bleeding edge" releases. If anything, that is an argument for using LTS releases in production.

          Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012

          J 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • A Amarnath S

            Not sure whether this is a Leslie, but looks serious enough https://www.wired.com/story/xz-backdoor-everything-you-need-to-know/ Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

            J Offline
            J Offline
            jochance
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            If closed is compromised they have a bunch of reasons to never tell you. It's kind of amazing to me really that they were able to get even this far. They must've had some pretty good misleading commit messages. It's pretty slick... only building into release balls and not in the actual source. That bit is sexy even if your soul isn't as black as your hat.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • A Amarnath S

              Not sure whether this is a Leslie, but looks serious enough https://www.wired.com/story/xz-backdoor-everything-you-need-to-know/ Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

              J Offline
              J Offline
              Jeremy Falcon
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              Amarnath S wrote:

              Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

              I would argue the opposite. Closed source backdoors just aren't found. Not like this dude was the first person to ever think of being sneaky. Edit: I should say, not against closed source for business use (if the business can be trusted), but for stuff like an OS or something the entire world uses (like AI) I think it's great.

              Jeremy Falcon

              0 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • P Peter_in_2780

                And it affects/ed a tiny fraction of the Linux world - only "bleeding edge" releases. If anything, that is an argument for using LTS releases in production.

                Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012

                J Offline
                J Offline
                Jeremy Falcon
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                Peter_in_2780 wrote:

                If anything, that is an argument for using LTS releases in production.

                Which is why I only use Debian for Linux servers.

                Jeremy Falcon

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • J Jeremy Falcon

                  Amarnath S wrote:

                  Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

                  I would argue the opposite. Closed source backdoors just aren't found. Not like this dude was the first person to ever think of being sneaky. Edit: I should say, not against closed source for business use (if the business can be trusted), but for stuff like an OS or something the entire world uses (like AI) I think it's great.

                  Jeremy Falcon

                  0 Offline
                  0 Offline
                  0x01AA
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  Quote:

                  if the business can be trusted

                  And what is the measure, to who one can trust ;) ;P :laugh:

                  R J 2 Replies Last reply
                  0
                  • 0 0x01AA

                    Quote:

                    if the business can be trusted

                    And what is the measure, to who one can trust ;) ;P :laugh:

                    R Offline
                    R Offline
                    Rick York
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    It is inversely proportional to how much evil they dispense.

                    "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • Richard DeemingR Richard Deeming

                      It's an argument against big companies relying to OSS projects without sponsoring them. If there's only one maintainer, who's doing it in their spare time, and lots of angry people demanding "urgrentz!!!1!eleventy!" fixes, then the temptation to let someone else take over is going to be very strong. For example, this support ticket for FFMPEG[^]. Nine days after posting it, some twerp from Microsoft decided to chase it, adding:

                      Quote:

                      Hi, This is a high priority ticket and the FFmpeg version is currently used in a highly visible product in Microsoft. We have customers experience issues with Caption during Teams Live Event. Please help,

                      The bug tracker is manned by unpaid volunteers, and Microsoft have refused to sponsor the project, or pay for a support contract. :sigh: (I'd have been inclined to suggest they post their question on one of Microsoft's own myriad support/feedback systems, where getting a non-canned response within nine days would be a miracle! Either that, or tell them to try running sfc /scannow, some variant of dism, and if it still didn't work, to format and reinstall their computer, and create a new user account. Because that's *always* the solution according to Microsoft!)


                      "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

                      M Offline
                      M Offline
                      markrlondon
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      Richard Deeming wrote:

                      For example, this support ticket for FFMPEG[^]. Nine days after posting it, some twerp from Microsoft decided to chase it, adding: Quote: Hi, This is a high priority ticket and the FFmpeg version is currently used in a highly visible product in Microsoft. We have customers experience issues with Caption during Teams Live Event. Please help, The bug tracker is manned by unpaid volunteers, and Microsoft have refused to sponsor the project, or pay for a support contract. :sigh:

                      That is appalling. I can well understand projects moving to not-entirely-open-source licences when companies can't understand paying for software without a price tag. I like the Clippy artwork that someone added below that: https://i.imgflip.com/8ldz0m.jpg[^]

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • A Amarnath S

                        Not sure whether this is a Leslie, but looks serious enough https://www.wired.com/story/xz-backdoor-everything-you-need-to-know/ Yet another case for Closed Source, isn't it?

                        T Offline
                        T Offline
                        TNCaver
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        Wait, you're telling me someone who actually knows how to recognize security issues actually checked OS code? That has to be rare.

                        There are no solutions, only trade-offs.
                           - Thomas Sowell

                        A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
                           - Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • 0 0x01AA

                          Quote:

                          if the business can be trusted

                          And what is the measure, to who one can trust ;) ;P :laugh:

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          Jeremy Falcon
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          Exactly.... I should probably put an asterisk besides that bit... :laugh: * You know what get when you assume though?

                          Jeremy Falcon

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • Richard DeemingR Richard Deeming

                            It's an argument against big companies relying to OSS projects without sponsoring them. If there's only one maintainer, who's doing it in their spare time, and lots of angry people demanding "urgrentz!!!1!eleventy!" fixes, then the temptation to let someone else take over is going to be very strong. For example, this support ticket for FFMPEG[^]. Nine days after posting it, some twerp from Microsoft decided to chase it, adding:

                            Quote:

                            Hi, This is a high priority ticket and the FFmpeg version is currently used in a highly visible product in Microsoft. We have customers experience issues with Caption during Teams Live Event. Please help,

                            The bug tracker is manned by unpaid volunteers, and Microsoft have refused to sponsor the project, or pay for a support contract. :sigh: (I'd have been inclined to suggest they post their question on one of Microsoft's own myriad support/feedback systems, where getting a non-canned response within nine days would be a miracle! Either that, or tell them to try running sfc /scannow, some variant of dism, and if it still didn't work, to format and reinstall their computer, and create a new user account. Because that's *always* the solution according to Microsoft!)


                            "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

                            R Offline
                            R Offline
                            Rick York
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            One appropriate response would be a "high priority" for you does not constitute an emergency for me.

                            "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • Richard DeemingR Richard Deeming

                              It's an argument against big companies relying to OSS projects without sponsoring them. If there's only one maintainer, who's doing it in their spare time, and lots of angry people demanding "urgrentz!!!1!eleventy!" fixes, then the temptation to let someone else take over is going to be very strong. For example, this support ticket for FFMPEG[^]. Nine days after posting it, some twerp from Microsoft decided to chase it, adding:

                              Quote:

                              Hi, This is a high priority ticket and the FFmpeg version is currently used in a highly visible product in Microsoft. We have customers experience issues with Caption during Teams Live Event. Please help,

                              The bug tracker is manned by unpaid volunteers, and Microsoft have refused to sponsor the project, or pay for a support contract. :sigh: (I'd have been inclined to suggest they post their question on one of Microsoft's own myriad support/feedback systems, where getting a non-canned response within nine days would be a miracle! Either that, or tell them to try running sfc /scannow, some variant of dism, and if it still didn't work, to format and reinstall their computer, and create a new user account. Because that's *always* the solution according to Microsoft!)


                              "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

                              J Offline
                              J Offline
                              jschell
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              Richard Deeming wrote:

                              and Microsoft have refused to sponsor the project, or pay for a support contract.

                              To be fair Microsoft has 200,000+ employees. So there certainly is no single person keeping track of this nor making the decisions. And then as far as it goes who exactly made the request for support from Microsoft and who refused it? I can see some very low level manager just not wanting to fill out the paperwork.

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