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Linus Torvalds Admits He's Been Asked To Insert Backdoor Into Linux

Posted by samzenpus on from the getting-in dept.

darthcamaro writes "At the Linuxcon conference in New Orleans today, Linus Torvalds joined fellow kernel developers in answering a barrage of questions about Linux development. One question he was asked was whether a government agency had ever asked about inserting a back-door into Linux. Torvalds responded 'no' while shaking his head 'yes,' as the audience broke into spontaneous laughter. Torvalds also admitted that while he as a full life outside of Linux he couldn't imagine his life without it. 'I don't see any project coming along being more interesting to me than Linux,' Torvalds said. 'I couldn't imagine filling the void in my life if I didn't have Linux.'"

3 of 576 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Shaking? by Pikewake · · Score: 5, Informative

    Unless you're in Albania, Bulgaria or Macedonia ;)

  2. Re:Would probably be found by dmcq · · Score: 5, Informative

    Have a look at some of the code from the 'Underhanded C Contest' at http://underhanded.xcott.com/ where people write code that looks straightforward and nice and clear but contains deliberate evil bugs. I think that should remove any complacency and the NSA has a lot of money to spend on people posing as developers never mind the ones they stick onto standards bodies.

    --
    thou discernest my thoughts from afar
  3. Re:Would probably be found by felix+rayman · · Score: 5, Informative

    You are doing something illegal - everyone is. You may not even know what you are doing that is illegal, but if the NSA knows everything you do, they know what you are doing that is illegal.

    They aren't going to do anything about it until you do some thing that is legal that they don't want you to do.

    If you run for office, they own you.