On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 20:07, meric mara <[email protected]> wrote: > First of all we would like to thank Doc Mana for the post and CenPEG for > standing up and filing this case against the COMELEC to the Supreme Court. >
I would like to thank Doc Mana and CenPEG as well. I believe that it's just right that it's in the law that the source code of the AES be available to any interested party who wants to conduct a review. More on a personal level, the AES would have my trust if I got a look at the source code. Whether COMELEC still pays for the acceptance test or not. > Second yet foremost, we LAUD and APPLAUD, CenPEG, Doc Mana and the rest of > the PLUG and Non-PLUG Members who are part of this very relevant, critical > and important INITIATIVE of which will be written in our history. > > In behalf of our team, 8layer, we give high regard and respect to those > individuals and enities who imbibe and impress in themselves the exercise, > right and the responsiblity to freedom towards our national sovereignty. > > Yes, we would like to make a stand: That we are for the release and review > of the source code. > > We have read most of the forum thread, and of course there are points that > we do agree on and for some we may not. But we are not writing to discuss > such points but rather provide our opinion and impression on this very > notable and important citizen duty of ours. > > We would like to believe that all of us would like to have a clean, honest > and decent election, and by which and through which, our voices are heard to > name our new leaders of this wounded and "must-heal" society. > > And this is why the process of HOW we legitimately choose our leaders is the > issue at hand. Basically, in the electoral process: > > 1. we are presented with choices (candidates vis-a-vis platform of > governance) etcetera > > 2. we go out to vote > > 3. we let our vote be counted > > 4. we guard our votes. > > Correct us if we are mistaken, but when we go into the automated process - > the 3 and 4 are no longer in the hands of the teachers and the poll watchers > and the masses but we let the machines mostly take care of this > process/steps. > > Evidently and we should recognize by now (or probably even then), that the > "counting and guarding obligation" is now in our hands and conscience, to > PRE-GUARD (sorry for the inventing of new term, for lack of a better word) > our votes. > > PRE-GUARD: On the notion, that we can no longer visually see the counting of > votes or guard our votes on the day of the election once this AES is ok'd to > be implemented and on the notion that we are spending a real-deal sum of > money, for what? all of us can provide countless of reasons, that is why we > must do it right. > > The issues on TRUST must be addressed. TRUST begets TRUST. If the COMELEC, > doesn't have anything to hide, it shouldn't be difficult from their end to > release the source code for review. Based from one of Doc Mana's reply, here's how I see it. COMELEC is not hiding the source code. It's a licensing issue between COMELEC and Smartmatic (or Dominion). COMELEC decided not to release the source code to honor the license from Smartmatic (or Dominion). It is still COMELEC's fault. I *suspect* that there could have been an overpricing in the deal. Or COMELEC doesn't want to spend more for a different license. Or they're covering for the mistake. // JUST THINKING OUT LOUD - you can set this aside Not really asking for more but maybe CenPEG can suggest to COMELEC on how to do this. I mean if CenPEG hasn't done this yet. > > Yes, it may not be all about the quality of the code but about the INTEGRITY > OF THE CODES per se. > > If there are PLUG Members who were part of the programming team of > SMARTMATIC (pasintabi na po!), this is not about you or your programming. > This ain't a competition or ego boosting or punching. This is BIGGER than > you. > I'm suspecting that Smartmatic employees might be any the following: Not allowed to write/speak in behalf of Smartmatic; Or under a non-disclosure agreement (where it is better off for them to keep quiet even with a disclaimer). Will Smartmatic be the one to conduct the customizations to the AES? I think I read somewhere that Smartmatic will only get binary copies of the AES from Dominion. > We all have different attitudes on how to face or react to criticism and > scrutiny of our work > > but as mature and respecting individuals, let us address and look at the > huge picture here. OUR VOTES. OUR VOICES. OUR FUTURE. OUR NATION. > > Let us dwell on our obligations here to guard our votes and stand up for our > freedom and national sovereignty. > > Finally, we support CenPEG's effort and we are with you on this endeavor. > > Thank you. > > Meric _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
