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Comment Re:Just another reminder to use LibreSSL (Score 1) 64

AFAIK, OpenSSL is Apache Licensed and LibreSSL is, well... BSD-Licensed.

If you accept an Apache-style license, I really don't see why LibreSSL's BSD is a problem.

You had a better argument when it came to the fact that OpenSSL is still active. Or, at least, that there is activity in the project, including some projects to audit the whole thing.

Comment NUKE IT FROM ORBIT (Score 5, Funny) 170

It's the only way to be sure.

OK, that was easy, but, seriously? SCO is still... acting up? Moving? I thought that thing (and the other... er... thing) and the one before that were settled?

Like, drive a wooden stake through its heart? Bury the head and body separately? What is wrong with the world when fsck SCO is still at large?

Come on, IBM, do everyone a favor: crush them like a bug. Please. I don't know, open a Kickstarter or something, I'll send you money and you a send me a Big Blue T-Shirt with little penguins on it. Please, make it stop. Please, I beg you. Pleeeeeeaaaaaaseeeee, I can't take it anymore! It's not the suspense, it's just the sheer idiocy of it all.

Comment Gandi (Score 1) 295

'nuff said. Gandi is easy, fast, reliable, and above all honest: no hidden fees, no surprises, and all the functions you need.

I use it for all my domain registration, and I have never ever had a complaint with them. I have no idea if their hosting offers are as good as the DNS registration, though, and I have heard some bad things on their VPS. Make of that what you will.

I have been trolling Slashdot for about 15 years and respect the views of the users here more than anywhere else. I would love to hear your advice and/or warnings in this matter.

Flattery will get you nowhere.

Comment Re:Not the time... (Score 3, Interesting) 69

LibreSSL is a great project, but they ripped out portability along the way.

Excuse me??!! Just like OpenSSH, they release a portable version, and the official release note says:

This release also includes a binary package for convenience integrating LibreSSL on Windows platforms, and the latest source tarball is signed with GPG and signify for easier integration into existing build systems.

We are talking about Windows, here... Sure, if you are into Windows 3.11 and VMS, LibreSSL is less portable than OpenSSL. But seriously, who even uses these two anymore??!!

OK, I'll grant you that LibreSSL is not a complete replacement for OpenSSL just yet. OpenBSD devs prefer working on their favourite OS, and I can't blame them. This being said, I would not be surprised if, in a couple of years, the rest of the world has switched to LibreSSL and forgotten the older version -- just take a look at OpenSSH... ;-)

Comment Re:I'm gonna FREAK! (Score 5, Informative) 69

Oh, really? A trainwreck?

Explain this, then: [Source is here]

The following CVEs were fixed in earlier LibreSSL releases:
              CVE-2015-0206 - Memory leak handling repeated DLTS records
              CVE-2014-3510 - Flaw handling DTLS anonymous EC(DH) ciphersuites.

            The following CVEs did not apply to LibreSSL:
              CVE-2014-3571 - DTLS segmentation fault in dtls1_get_record
              CVE-2014-3569 - no-ssl3 configuration sets method to NULL
              CVE-2015-0204 - RSA silently downgrades to EXPORT_RSA

Let's see... 5 CVE were either fixed in LibreSSL or did not apply to it. That's not too bad for a "trainwreck".

And what about that little dig at NetBSD? Hmmmm... You mean some people take stuff from OpenBSD and make it less secure? The plot thickens.

Oh, and by the way, that OpenSSH thingie? Yup, it came from the last "open source" version of SSH, the commercial software. In other words, OpenBSD devs took something already existing and made it better. Hmmm... I think you just don't know what you are talking about...

Listen, you can find OpenBSD programmers annoying and even call them "masturbating monkeys", but they know their stuff. Period. Calling what they do a "trainwreck" is hyperbole at best and just plain untrue at worst.

This being said, to get back on topic, auditing OpenSSL is not a bad idea. Far from it.

Comment Re:Scenario (Score 5, Insightful) 129

My dear friend, you do not understand how these things work.

You work at NSA, you are always using the latest, newest, biggest, baddest, sweetest technology ever devised by men. You literally have computer companies begging you to buy their stuff. For a lot of these people (heck, that may even include me) that is motivation enough.

AND, if you are discreet about it, you can even be privy to potentially very lucrative a lot of state secrets. Or even personal secrets, who knows?. Obviously, if Snowden gave us something, it is the knowledge that NSA is not very good at information compartmentalization...

But here is the kicker: if you ever decide to leave the NSA, for retirement or otherwise, the private sector (at least the US private sector) will greet you with open arms and pay you a sh*tload of money to work as a consultant or senior manager. And we are talking about a SH*TLOAD of money, conflict of interests be damned. You are now one of the big boys, kid, enjoy your (semi-)retirement.

No need to betray US interests, no need to reveal super secret information: you are NSA. You are above the law. Just leave your morals at the door, please.

Comment Re:Kaspersky Lab (Score 5, Insightful) 129

I am not too worried about Putin.

What I am worried about is this: the Equation malware was used years ago. We know these guys are good at what they do. Very good.

NSA has been working on that stuff since the 1950s -- that's 65 years of experience, folks, and they have been big computer users since day ONE -- heck even before day one, if you count Bletchley Park and stuff like the cracking of Red, Purple and JN cyphers.

So, we are talking about an organization that has huge experience in cracking systems and crypto, and the enormous budget to support its activities.

So: what have they been producing between Equation and, let's say, Stuxnet, and today?

Equation was -- from what I understand -- fairly Windows specific. What have they got now? The stuff coming out of all these not-so-funny super top secret projects?

Here is a hint: combine stuff like Heartbleed (OpenSSL), ShellShock, stuff that lingered in code bases for decades before being found out, maybe other stuff such as a few rumors about OpenSSH backdoors (remember those?) and the "let me install myself cosily in your HDD BIOS where you cannot dislodge me" capabilities of Equation and, presto! No one is safe from the prying eyes of NSA anymore.

That's the kind of things that makes you lose sleep at night. At least, I do lose sleep over it. Georges Orwell had nothing on these guys.

What if you are only running open-source? Vulnerable. Audited open-source? They have 100 times the manpower of the best programming teams out there. Heck, they may even have inflitrated these projects in the first place!

And don't forget one last things: the guys are masters of misdirection. NSA and GCHQ and everyone in between said for years that Enigma was safe to use, even after the nd of WWII. It's extremely simple for these people to say (unofficially, of course) "Drats! This guy is using open source! Foiled again! Damn you open source programmers!! Damn you all to hell!!!", all the while exploiting Linux/BSD machines as easily as "1-2-3". And we know they like subtle.

So, here is the question: what do they have, right now, that we don't know about? Think about that for a second.

Comment Re:And not just that... (Score 1) 292

In our field, you almost never get a raise. I know out of the sixty guys under me where I work, not a one has gotten a raise the seven years I've been here. In a tech field, if you want more money, then you negotiate it upfront. Sounds like your friend is inexperienced and unrealistic with his belief that even though no one else in his dapartment gets a raise that he shoudl get one anyway. He thinks he is a special flower.

I should have been clearer: neither my friend, nor myself, got a raise OR a training session even though pretty much everyone in our team got one. So, yes, you can get raises in a tech field. Just not at our company.

Before you say: "Aha! Something was wrong with his performance!", let me remind you that the guy got a private cloud off the ground, based on his work, and his work only. The very same cloud, right now, is pumping dozens of virtual machines per day to different subsidiaries of the company we work for. So, no, his work was top-notch and he was not a special flower: just someone who is passionate about his work, and about putting together excellent technological solutions.

Seeing this company destroy one of the best team I have ever been a part of was not really the best time of my life. I feel like I should have left a year ago, and I am frankly relieved to be leaving soon.

Comment And not just that... (Score 5, Interesting) 292

Companies very often do NOTHING to retain top talent.

I have this exact problem right now where I work: one of my co-workers was a top notch cloud/orchestration ace.

He left last week, after his request for additional training and a pay raise was denied for the third time in a row by our boss.

The stupid idiot who did that is now scrambling to fill in my co-worker shoes. And, surprise, surprise, after three years in the fscking company, I also gave him my resignation, just as we were going to talk about diving into all the Puppet rules and configuration files my co-worker programmed to run our in-house cloud.

All in all, out of four Linux admins, three of them resigned in the space of three months. And the one guy left has already told upper management there is no way he'll be able to do the job of four guys.

Here is a hint to all PHBs and HR drones everywhere: when you have top-notch talent, just remember they can find job elsewhere pretty much whenever they want. Listen to your guys, for fsck sake, or suffer the consequences!

Comment Re:I use it for the extensions.. the price is righ (Score 1) 300

Stop talking about revenue. Start talking about marketing.

Google has been promoting Chrome as if it was the coolest shit in the world. Chrome everywhere, Chromebook, Chromecast, Chrome this and Chrome that. Mozilla does not have much of a marketing budget (as far as I can tell).

It's not much of a mystery, if you like free shit, where YOU are the product being sold and bought, stick with Chrome. I'll stay with Firefox, thank you very much.

Comment Re:Is this such a bad thing? March of progress... (Score 1) 300

(And IE is now a pretty decent browser that is no longer a festering nest of standards-breaking crapola.)

Excuse me kind sir? Can I have a little bit of whatever it is that you are smoking? Because I don't know what it is, and it sure sounds like some REALLY good shit.

Seriously, though, IE is a piece of c-r-a-p. Always has been and always will be. The most astounding piece of crap EVER. Even Microsoft has pretty much given up on it.

I won't even comment on your assertion that Chrome is better than Firefox in the memory-hogging department.

Comment Re:Why Force Your Children to Live in the Past? (Score 2) 734

Head and shouldes above the rest? Yes, if you like to go bankrupt on the simplest procedure.

The USA spends more on health care than most other countries, and gets less "health" in return.

Heck, even the French pay less per person than the US, and gets better results. Don't believe me? Fine, read it and weep.

Also totally relevant: Breaking Bad could not happen in Europe. Wrap your mind around this one.

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