Slashdot Mirror
OpenBSD Lands $2 Million In DARPA Money
An anonymous reader writes "Canada's National Post is reporting today that DARPA is (indirectly) funding $2-million (US) to Theo de Raadt of OpenBSD. The article is available here." Update: 04/07 21:01 GMT by T : As several readers have pointed out, this blurb should credit instead The Globe and Mail rather than the National Post.
...well, wealthy... I guess...
I don't understand why getting money from DARPA makes them uncomfortable. He mentions it comes with no strings attached.
Shouldn't we be happy about grants like this that will promote and advance Open Source software in general?
Doug Tolton
"The destruction of a value which is, will not bring value to that which isn't." -John Galt
Why is this news?
$2 million is news. That's a lot of money to be out into open source.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
I completly understand how an OSS project can require funds for further development, what I worry is how these funds are donated, is it all contributed in cash?
Problem with that is some people can easily take advantage of a situation like that, I think funding should instead come in required equipement and/or other expenses, but not cash, because there are many contributors (coders) to projects like this, and no one should be taking coin from it.
Can someone shed some light? maybe I am off base...
Posting useless rant since 2003.
Non-techie news site gets "hacker" right? Very surprising.
well.. yeah, they can...
holy fucking shit.... this is turly beautiful.
there are two types of people in this world (well.. actually more, but ill narrow it down here), those who talk about needing - have their needs filled- then still dont produce... and then there are those who need - and once those needs are met.. they DO produce...
i hope theo and the rest of obsd are of the latter...
-frank
... can buy a lot of poutine!
and maybe theo will finally get the sparc docs he needs.
It's a very positive thing to see government funding OSS software. This is something that gives positive returns to everyone.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
"U.S. military helps fund Calgary hacker
By DAVID AKIN
From Monday's Globe and Mail"
I think you've attributed it to the wrong paper, that's quite clearly from the Globe and Mail (as if the url, globetechnology.com wasn't a give away), the other national Canadian paper.
BTW, anyone else notice the article was actually from The Globe and Mail?
Carousel is a lie!
From the article:
Erm, shouldn't that be "only one remote hole in the default install"?
1. Posses huge, pain-in-the-ass ego.
Alas, this happens.
Highly talented and intelligent people get exasperated with us mortals and let us know in no uncertain terms that we are stupid. I knew someone in school like this once. He would put pointed questions out that would show people's stupidity in broad daylight. But he was so intelligent, and I had enough intelligence still left, to know when he was right.
True intelligence is being able to recognize someone more intelligent than you are and to be able to support their work even if they have a grating personality.
Don't ever make the mistake of putting them in a role of managing people, though.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
When asked about his brand-new 24K gold biking helmet, Theo pointed behind the reporters and exclaimed "What's that!". With the reporters distracted, he promptly ran the other direction and hid behind some bushes. The reporters, being only average journalists, published that OpenBSD's leader can turn himself invisible at will and cited that OpenBSD appears to be some sort of Canadian rap group.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
from the openbsd website:
"Today cryptography is an important means for enhancing the security of an operating system...
'...When we create OpenBSD releases or snapshots we build our release binaries in free countries to assure that the sources and binaries we provide to users are free of tainting. In the past our release binary builds have been done in Canada, Sweden, and Germany...'
Gov spends millions to control crypto exports.
Gov spends millions to support OpenBSD which
bypasses US crypto export laws?!
Mr. de Raadt is no fan of the U.S. military at the moment. He calls the war in Iraq an oil grab. "It just sickens me."
IN other news, Theo de Raadt is held by the Department of Homeland Security in Seattle while attending an OpenBSD conference. Mr De Raadt, in the country to give a speech at the conference is whisked away by unknown persons in a black van. Other conference goers are later told by organizers that a quote by Mr. de Raadt is being held under the US PATRIOT Act for "'aiding and giving comfort to Evil Ones."
The Canadian high counsel in Washington lodges a formal condemnation of the act -- demanding that the Canadian Citizen be released. Washington replies "It is quite obvious that Canadians and The Canadian Regime has been overrun by The Evil Ones. Like Syria and Iran, Canada must learn that their Either With Us or Against Us." In Ottawa, American ambassador Cellucci says "yeah, what he said, Canadians baaaaad"
Republican Senator U.S. Nitwitt says "Why should righteous Americans be giving their defense funds to this communist^H^H^H^H^H^Hterrorist? Its obvious he's a terrorist - at least. This is a threat to our security. The Department of Homeland Security may or may not be justified in siezing him if they did or didnt... uhm, filthy Un American... i hear he rides the bus!"
Author Steven Brill is experiencing total friction among his close circle of elitist liberal media associates after releasing a book which claims: Homeland Security under President Bush is working!
And why have there been no fresh terror strikes in the United States since the start of the war?
Coincidentally, I have a rock that keeps away tigers. I know it works because I don't see any tigers.
Its supposed to hook scientists and researchers together over a "network" where computers can exchange information. It would be neat if this technology would some day be available to everyone!
Worst. Sig. Ever.
If he were taking money to implement DARPA-requested features, I could see the issue. However, if all he's doing is taking no-strings-attached money to do work he'd be doing anyway, I don't see the moral conundrum. If there are any negative effects of his work (OpenBSD being used by TIA, for example), they'd exist even if he wasn't funded by DARPA; the only solution would be to stop developing OpenBSD entirely, not to keep doing it without DARPA funding. So insofar as DARPA funding doesn't change anything, I'd say take it. Plus, at least it ensures that this portion of DARPA's budget goes to something worthwhile and unobjectionable, rather than letting them keep it to spend on something else.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
The brilliant thing here is that this move recognises the importance of communities; the OpenBSD community IS all over the world, with Mr de Raadt a Canadian the work can be done in Canada, in the USA, in India, wherever the TALENT is.
As the grant is intended to help "testing the security of commercial software systems against the security of open source software projects", it will point to the truth in this old dispute what makes better secure software AND it will help to point to the relative merits of "security by obscurity".
However to assess this, I expect DARPA not to select Microsoft Windows as the champion of the proprietary world, I would choose OS/400. Given the smaller size of the OpenBSD community, the effect of methodology can be better assessed.
As DARPA throws bread on the water, I hope they will land a big fish!
Thanks, Gerard
The U.S. Government is a huge organization that sponsors all sorts of programs. DARPA didn't cause the war. NASA didn't cause the war. The IRS didn't cause the war. Like Theo said, taking the money prevented that money from being used on a cruise missile.
So it's your opinion that money should buy silence? That anyone who accepts money from the governement is morally required to not criticize the government that funded them? Or is it your position that the government should only fund researchers who agree with the current administration?
I think just the opposite; unless you want all research to lose its independance, you should criticize even your patrons if that's how you feel. That comment might cost him similar money in the future; but he said what he believed anyway. That does show backbone and ethics.
For all I know, The rationalle might be that he's accepting this money exactly because it'll be $2M that is not going to develop bombs or other WMDs. That seems like a completely self-consistant moral position.