Linus Torvalds Admits He's Been Asked To Insert Backdoor Into Linux
I am a member!
This was a joke.
He may or may not have been asked this.
Chances are better than not I think that they would attempt to introduce zero day bug(s) which they could easily and trivially exploit.
I am a member!
He was asked, but it's hard to tell if it was a joke, kind of looked like it was.
The way I interpret such a gesture is that, whatever agency that approached him, made him promise (/swear, or whatever) first that he wouldn't "tell" anyone else about such conversation.
(I know of other people who are a nuisance to the establishment, that were approached by it, in an attempt to be "recruited" to its side, with a promise first that such a conversation would be "off the record".)
And, I've seen this kind of response before...
Once, when a well-known journalist was asking "sensitive" questions to a military guy, that was denouncing other stuff and that, obviously, couldn't answer the more sensitive ones, and the military guy would just start singing, in very short and high pitch bursts, in response to them, in what appeared to be confirmations to some of the questions asked.
Although, I do admit that it all looks like a joke...
(Who knows?)
Well, I already tried commenting here, but my browser was not obbeying me =(
Hope this time it works.
So, I already had commented here in the forum that when linux grew big enough to "matter", big enough to have many people using it, probably Linus and other people would have been contacted in order to develop ways for those people to still be under control ESPECIALLY making them thinking they were not. Now, some people here say it was a joke. Well, I don't believe it was, but the only way to be sure would be to have had someone asking "okay, did you made any backdoors?" "would you do so if they asked you to?", and even so we would not know what was the truth. I believe it was a risk for Linus to say what he said, because if he is under a gag order, he probably had trouble because he raised suspicion. I don't like people who cooperate with the Govs but if he had no other choice, having said what he said would be a brave act in itself. So, I don't think it was a joke, but I don't know what to make of it... and him.
Thanks fernando for the information.
"if he had no other choice, having said what he said would be a brave act in itself. So, I don't think it was a joke"
Knowing how Linus is a person not afraid to say what he really thinks (and, to even "give the finger" to entities he doesn't like), I know him not to be a coward. So, that's why I suspect him to be brave enough to do something like this... ;)
And, knowing (from being well informed) how the establishment always tries to recruit the best minds for its side, and also make them "change sides", once they become prominent, only adds to such suspicion.
Those who are really in control never "ask" - they merely issue an order through a government agency, or create a law.
Surely, as Linux kernel is free software, this issue would be found out, and maybe even some people might change to Hurdy kernel?