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Worrying, but not an argument against open source.
Backdoors in closed source software are only discovered when they are in use.
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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. 
(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
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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. 
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[^]
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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?"
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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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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
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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
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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.
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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
modified 5-Apr-24 14:34pm.
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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?"
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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)
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I had no idea that it might be a highway guardrail. Somewhere around Williams and Flagstaff AZ, I was cruising a bit below the speed limit because there was some fluffy, light snow falling, nothing sticking. I rounded the bend and suddenly saw black, shiny pavement, which signaled to my old brain, "WARNING - ICE AHEAD" I kicked out of cruise control and tried to slow the vehicle, but I hit a bump, and that started the totally out of control phase of the trip. We swung back and forth for a bit, from one lane to another on I-40, then hit the end of a guardrail with the passenger seat door and watched it crumple. After absorbing all of the energy it could, the rail rebounded and we spun again clockwise until the car hit the edge of the roadway, which is wet dirt. That made the tires dig in, and the car rolled over onto its driver side. Happily, the rear hatch on my 2023 Nissan Rogue was still working, so we managed to crawl out the back safely.
As a Testament to the Nissan Rogue, the internal protective devices deployed perfectly, even though all their fancy drive control systems were entirely useless in icy conditions. There's really nothing any system can do with ice, so I'm not faulting them for that. I crawled out of the vehicle without a scratch, and my passenger, who was sitting in the seat where the initial impact occurred, suffered some minor bruising. I now thank God every morning for allowing me to wake up.
I bought another Rogue today, because I know that this model has the safety thing down right. I hate the company, but I love this car.
Will Rogers never met me.
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Cars have improved immeasurably since I started driving - the last big accident I had was in the 80's in a company pool car: a Ford Cortina.
To say that this car had had a hard life was an understatement - it started as a sales rep's car (and in those days the reps expected to take the client out for a boozy lunch) and became a pool car when the rep got to 75,000 miles. As a pool car, nobody gave a damn what happened to it so servicing was ... unlikely. It was probably two years old when I was handed the keys for a troubleshooting software job a couple of hundred miles away that turned out to be a hardware problem. It lurched to the right when you accelerated, and to the left when you braked. But I couldn't get my computer and data analyser on the bike, so off I went. 5 boring days* of sitting in a library waiting for an intermittent problem to happen later** and I headed for home.
It was starting to get dark by the time I joined the M1 (think first "Interstate" in the UK) and traffic was building up for rush hour. Suddenly, I saw stopped traffic ahead of me and jammed on the brakes, fighting to keep the car in a straight(ish) line and came to a stop maybe four feet from the car in front. Still holding the foot brake down I reached for the handbrake and glancing the mirror in time to see headlights moving fast.
The car behind didn't slow at all until he hit me, and then the next thing I remember was someone saying "get that guy out of there, his petrol tank has split". Did they mean me? From the smell, yes. the drivers door wouldn't open, so I kicked my way out the passenger side and got away from it. It was a write off: several feet shorter than it started, it had been rammed so hard into the car in front that it was a write off as well, and the car ahead of that was damaged. I was fine, but my back hurt where the computer equipment had slammed into the driver's seat, but that was all soft tissue and no permanent damage.
I was lucky: the fuel didn't catch fire, I wasn't trapped in there. Took me six months to a year to be comfortable sitting at traffic lights in case the guy behind didn't stop though.
Nowadays, airbags would have gone off, the fuel tank wouldn't have split, crumple zones would have taken the worst of the damage. And cars would call the emergency services for you and unlock the doors automatically. And emergency braking systems would have mitigated or prevented the accident - a couple of years ago, I was waiting to turn off the road when the driver behind wasn't paying attention; his car was and it stopped short. Bruised his ego, and the seatbelt bruised his chest - but no accident occurred and we both drove away. They make cars more complex, more expensive, but they work, and work well!
* And 5 very boozy nights in a hotel bar.
** It did: when a new member signed up they laminated a new library card for them and that sent out enough crap via the mains to disturb the hardware my software was running on.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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That reminds me of an incident that occurred to me while I was visiting a customer in the US. I was driving a rented Lincoln Town Car (ridiculous car but it had plenty of room and impressed customers) on I94 south of Detroit. It started to snow heavily and the road surface became very slippery. A lorry jack-knifed a little distance ahead so I cruised to a stop. The woman driving the minivan behind was not paying sufficient attention and was late braking. She almost stopped but slid gently into the back of me. The impact was barely noticeable but when I opened the driver's door, the front edge was catching on the bodywork ahead. It was apparent that the whole car had been shortened by about 15mm!
I have never rented a Lincoln since.
Phil
The opinions expressed in this post are not necessarily those of the author, especially if you find them impolite, inaccurate or inflammatory.
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Wow! That sounds much like the last accident I was involved with, in 1973. Stopped at a signal, the guy behind never even braked, just crumpled my car and drove me into the car ahead of me. I have to agree, for all their expense and coim-plexity, cars today are far safer than what we were driving back then!
Will Rogers never met me.
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Yes, but I translate it into Sanscrit first to keep in practice.
Will Rogers never met me.
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Roger, thank god everyone Ok.
We have an older car that doesn't have all the newer safety devices, it have a lot of miles and we're waiting for it to take a dump before looking for a new one.
Definition of a burocrate; Delegate, Take Credit, shift blame.
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.3.1 JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
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Glad to hear that you and your passenger are both OK.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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I'm glad to hear you and your passenger are okay Roger. It sounds clichΓ©, but cars can be replaced. You and your friend cannot.
Cars that are designed to be destroyed during impact while preserving the lives of their occupents sound like a win all the way around.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Wordle 1,021 4/6*
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Wordle 1,021 3/6
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Today it asked me to create a login, to see my stats and streaks. Am somewhat hesitant to create a login.
Yet another login, yet another password, ... sigh.
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Wordle 1,021 3/6
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