Claude Jones wrote:
On Mon January 15 2007 8:03 am, Andrew Parker wrote:
I've spent a good 10-15 hours a week developing selinux for the last
year or so, and have quite a detailed understanding of the code
there. I can assure you now that I have never seen anything that
looks like a back door in any of the code.
I also work for the NSA.
That is how it could be hidden. A few developers saying this, but
without the previous paragraph.
Andrew: My intent in posting that link was not to cast aspersions on you or
Stephen Smalley or any of the other NSA personnel involved in the Selinux
project. As I've already said, I don't even feel personally threatened. I try
to keep Selinux running on my machines, and have posted a bug report or two.
To Scott (oldman), I'm not a programmer - I graduated at the top of my
programming class many years ago at the Control Data Institute but that was
the end of my programming career. I took up Python a couple of years ago, and
was writing little programs after a week or so, but, I found the effort
tortuous and finally dropped it - it's a right-brain/left-brain issue or
something to that effect. My 15 year old nephew can dance programming circles
around me, and he relishes it. For me, programming exercises are more akin to
a form of self imposed punishment for past transgressions.
When a friend sent me that link last night, it triggered me to re-post it
here, because of what I said - I have been using Linux for about 3.5 years
now, and I began with Fedora, and while I've tried about 40 or so other
distros, I've always returned to Fedora, and I've always been subscribed to
this list. Yet, I've never seen this particular issue discussed on this list,
and that's what I found curious. At the time I reposted the link, I hadn't
really looked at it closely, and didn't catch the date it was written - that
particular story has been circulating in various forms for years, and I have
often wondered whether there was any truth to it.
And, as I stated in my original post, given who my current administration is,
I think it is a perfectly legitimate issue to raise. I think my government's
penchant for monitoring its citizens has gone too far - eternal vigilance is
a price that must be paid to secure freedom. There may be nothing but decent
intent on the part of personnel involved in any given government program, but
such programs have to be monitored - when government is granted intrusive
power, someone will always find a way to abuse that power - that's a simple
lesson of history. If I were a Brit, I would feel similar discomfort about
the omnipresent cameras-on-the-public programs of that government... That's
something I understand quite well, being a televesion producer.
I have already forwarded the text from the link you gave to Snopes.com
and TruthOrFiction.com.
Bear the date in mind. This happened during the administration of
William J. Clinton, not George W. Bush. At the time, President Clinton
had no reason (at least none that he personally would believe) to
suppose that anyone would succeed him except his Vice President, Albert
A. Gore. Clinton had a penchant for monitoring people, too--his domestic
opponents. If George W. Bush is monitoring anyone, then it would be
those whom the government suspects of planning to blow something up with
people in or on it, sicken an entire city or two with anthrax (or West
Nile encephalitis), /et cetera/.
So when you think of "who the present administration is," do not imagine
it to be any worse than would be an administration belonging to the
other party.
Temlakos
