Maybe he's the original author On Jul 11, 2013, at 8:00 AM, Lionel Hutchence <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dear "Thomas," > > Plagiarise much lately? > > http://www.trollaxor.com/2013/07/why-i-abandoned-openbsd-and-why-you.html > > -Lionel > > > On Thu, Jul 4, 2013 at 11:56 PM, Thomas Jennings > <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Dear OpenBSD developers and users: >> >> Regretfully, I have decided to abandon OpenBSD and thought I would >> share my reasoning with this list. I thought the 4th of July was a >> good date to do so since my reasons address national security >> implications. As a group of people who take development, security, and >> privacy seriously, I know you will want to know why I made the drastic >> decision to abandon OpenBSD and never look back. >> >> I'm sure we've all heard of PRISM by now, the user-friendly name of >> the United States Federal Government's massive civilian and resident >> spying program otherwise known as US-984XN. PRISM is certainly bad >> enough of its own accord, but it's how PRISM works, and the pattern of >> behavior found in OpenBSD development, that was the tipping point for >> my use of OpenBSD. >> >> And we all know Theo de Raadt, OpenBSD generalissimo of much infamy. >> After being fired from the NetBSD team, Theo forked the code and >> started OpenBSD. He's been pretty much solely responsible for >> development of OpenBSD over the years, taking volunteer code as he >> sees fit. He also has final say over security audits in the operating >> system, something that turns out to be very important. >> >> I was prepping to migrate the whole of our shop, a regional ISP in the >> United States of America, to OpenBSD 5.3 when the news broke: CBS News >> reporter Sharyl Attkisson claimed, during a live radio interview, that >> she had been dealing with suspicious computer and phone issues. Check >> out this snippet from the full transcript of the interview. One line >> in particular trashed my plans for the OpenBSD upgrade: >> >>> Well, I have been, as I said, pursuing an issue for a long time now — much >>> longer >>> than you’ve been hearing about this in the news — with some compromising of >>> my >>> computer systems in my house — my personal computer systems as well as my >>> work computer systems. I thought they were immune to being compromised — >>> because they all ran OpenBSD — but I guess I was wrong. So, we’re digging >>> into >>> that and just not ready to say much more right now, but I am concerned. >> >> Since that interview in May, I've watched story after story of direct >> server access, PRISM, and NSA spying and connected some dots. For >> example, consider the accusations that the FBI had been accused of >> planting backdoors in OpenBSD's IPSEC in December of 2012, and that >> the accusations later proved true. The two scandals broke 18 only >> months apart. >> >> Consider that PRISM allows the United States Federal Government to >> directly access the servers of virtually any company doing online >> business, including tech giants like Apple, Facebook, Google, and >> Microsoft. But those same tech giants deny complicity. I'm sure we all >> agree that personal privacy is beyond the scope of private enterprise, >> but let's assume their denials are true. Then connect more dots: >> >> OpenBSD has shipped on over half of all network devices, including >> things like routers, switches, gateways, and servers, for the last six >> years. The current estimated number of OpenBSD installations sits at >> over 350 million devices, comprising an almost ubiquitous presence of >> OpenBSD in networks worldwide. >> >> EVEN IF NO CORPORATION OFFERS THE UNITED STATE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT >> DIRECT ACCESS TO ITS SERVERS THROUGH PRISM, OPENBSD OFFERS THAT SAME >> ACCESS THROUGH THE PRESENCE OF ITS BACKDOORS. >> >> There it is. Let it sink in. Words like Gestapo and Stasi and KGB come >> to mind. OpenBSD is part and parcel to the United States Federal >> Government's program to spy on its own citizens through bodies like >> the NSA and FBI and has been since the FBI paid for backdoors in IPSEC >> about a dozen years ago. >> >> Yesterday, I told the company that we must migrate all our services >> from OpenBSD to something else because the risk to our customers' >> privacy and security is simply unacceptable. Theo de Raadt may seem >> like some kind of guard dog of security, but he's really just a little >> bitch bought and sold by the United State Federal Government. >> >> The kicker is that Theo denies anything suggesting that OpenBSD is >> less than perfect at security, as if he's personally offended by the >> mere suggestion. He routinely attacks developers and enthusiasts for >> simply asking questions. WHY SO TOUCHY, THEO? COULD IT BE BECAUSE >> YOU'RE COMPLICIT IN THE BIGGEST CITIZEN SPYING PROGRAM EVER RUN IN THE >> HISTORY OF THE WORLD?! >> >> Today, be a true patriot to the ideals of personal privacy and public >> liberty: prevent and reject any and all use of OpenBSD. >> >> Happy 4th of July.
