this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2024
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Free Software
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What is free software?
Free software is software that respects the 4 software freedoms. The 4 freedoms are
- The freedom to run the run the program
- The freedom to study the source code
- The freedom to modify the source code
- The freedom to distribute modified versions of the source code
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I suppose it all depends on how comfortable someone is getting close to the CIA. At the very least, I think people should know who they are dealing with when signing up to a platform like that. It would be naïve to think that an organisation like the CIA funds their interests directly.
TOR was also funded and initially developed by the US Gorvernment as well (I think it was the Navy). It's still best in class at what it does, and there's been no evidence of any sort of back door in the long time it has been running. It was also likely a "more non-government users provide better masking for clandestine government work" situation as well.
Ghidra is one of the best software reverse engineering tools out there, and it's an open source NSA project.
People absolutely should know, and ultimately what you do and don't promote is up to you. That said, most people in privacy and cybersecurity communities do not have concerns about the government connection when the tools are open source and essily auditable.
Keeping in mind of course that getting cleared following an audit means nothing was found, not that no exploits exist.