MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-02-27 |
| FROM | Dave Williams
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Eben Moglen Essay
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A good short essay in Linux User:
http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/articles/issue27/lud27-free_software_matters.html
I personally enjoyed this paragraph:
"As I have said in this space recently, one of the hottest fields of
competition at the moment is also the largest aggregate software market
on earth: the world's governments. More than sixty-five countries and
dozens or hundreds of political subdivisions are actively considering
legislation or regulations favoring the use of free software for
government computing. National governments have begun actively
considering use of free software for all the reasons (price,
flexibility, power of modification - in other words, freedom) that other
corporate and individual users also identify. But they have at least one
additional reason for adopting free software: they suspect that
Microsoft has done favors for the US intelligence community, embedding
'back doors' in Windows that permit US listeners to monitor encrypted
communications generated using the Windows Cryptographic Applications
Program Interface (CAPI). Last month, in an unprecedented move,
Microsoft announced that it will release Windows source code for review
by foreign governments, to help them evaluate whether Windows is a good
public purchase. In addition, Microsoft will allow foreign governments
to connect their own CAPI to Windows, supposedly in order to eliminate
any risk that US intelligence services have embedded spy code in the
company's products."
Obviously Microsoft isn't into "Shared Source" just to be nice. It may
be the only way to get foreign governments to trust them!
Once again, their presence at an Open Source even benefits no one but
Microsoft.
- Dave
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