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Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

qubes-os.org

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Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#11

Post by mirimir »

conradev wrote: post #7
xelxebar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cloud stuff seems incidental to the article's main point. At least that's how I read it. Rather, it sounds like they are trying to properly abstract the isolation technology away from any specific implementation. They then realized that this would also allow "Qubes on the Cloud" with relatively little extra effort. From a personal choice standpoint, it seems we will still have the option of avoiding cloud zones c…

I agree. I liked the diagram that showed separate machines on the same local network running qubes. Physical separation is stronger compartmentalization than Xen.

Yes, I agree. And I wonder what a hybrid with Tinfoil Chat might look like. That is, using opto-isolators to make some device-qubes read-only.

Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#12

Post by tlrobinson »

ecesena wrote: post #3

Qubes would make for a great startup and, given the time, prob a very successful ICO. I was positively and at the same time negatively surprised reading about the 30k users. All issues/obstacles reported don’t seem so unachievable if one can imagine to focus on one specific hardware platform and with a good marketing team. I understand this is beyond a research project, but it would make for a great startup.

Why would Qubes do an ICO?

Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#14

Post by ecesena »

tlrobinson wrote: post #12
ecesena wrote: post #3

Qubes would make for a great startup and, given the time, prob a very successful ICO. I was positively and at the same time negatively surprised reading about the 30k users. All issues/obstacles reported don’t seem so unachievable if one can imagine to focus on one specific hardware platform and with a good marketing team. I understand this is beyond a research project, but it would make for a great startup.

Why would Qubes do an ICO?

For the cloud, it would be an incentive to run the nodes, and you’d pay for the resource you’re using. I’m not saying they should, Im saying it could be a good startup or, in this case, a good model for a blockchain-based company.

Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#15

Post by mtgx »

tlrobinson wrote: post #12
ecesena wrote: post #3

Qubes would make for a great startup and, given the time, prob a very successful ICO. I was positively and at the same time negatively surprised reading about the 30k users. All issues/obstacles reported don’t seem so unachievable if one can imagine to focus on one specific hardware platform and with a good marketing team. I understand this is beyond a research project, but it would make for a great startup.

Why would Qubes do an ICO?

To start, only because it's the best model to fund an open source project, ever?

Of course they'd also have to pick their launch during a bull market, because nobody cares about ICOs in a bear market. If there's one innovation the "blockchain" has brought, is extreme liquidity and high funding potential for any type of startup, including open source projects that wouldn't even be considered by VCs ever, or they'd have to beg for individual donations otherwise.

The blockchain is a P2P Silicon Valley (you heard it hear first).

Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#16

Post by robryk »

mirimir wrote: post #2

This is interesting. However, I don't get how stuff in the cloud can be considered secure. Unless you trust them, anyway. And also, I'm reminded how little privacy seems to matter for Qubes devs. Edit: OK, I take it back. Replacing VMs with discrete devices on local networks is very cool. I just wish that they'd emphasized that, and then talked about using cloud resources. Indeed, what boggled my mind is that someone…

You can put the untrusted VMs in the cloud, to get better isolation between them and more important stuff. This, e.g., is a way of preventing two colluding VMs from communicating.

Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#17

Post by kakarot »

mtgx wrote: post #15
tlrobinson wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would Qubes do an ICO?

To start, only because it's the best model to fund an open source project, ever? Of course they'd also have to pick their launch during a bull market, because nobody cares about ICOs in a bear market. If there's one innovation the "blockchain" has brought, is extreme liquidity and high funding potential for any type of startup, including open source projects that wouldn't even be considered by VCs ever, or they'd hav…

Ok, I'll bite. You're begging the question, Why is it the best model to fund an open source project, ever?

And don't list "extreme liquidity" as a reason.

Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#18

Post by kakarot »

ecesena wrote: post #14
tlrobinson wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would Qubes do an ICO?

For the cloud, it would be an incentive to run the nodes, and you’d pay for the resource you’re using. I’m not saying they should, Im saying it could be a good startup or, in this case, a good model for a blockchain-based company.

I think the idea is you just buck up and pay the cloud fees.

If you follow Qubes / ITL, you would know that they are hardly a "startup" as a decade-old company, and they have been experimenting with enterprise-level support. If they can find a home in the enterprise market, it will at least give them enough cashflow to continue developing Qubes for the foreseeable future.

Besides, I imagine Joanna Rutkowska's opinion on the ICO scene isn't a very positive one, and I don't think she wants to complicate her company by pivoting to a blockchain model that has absolutely no relevance to developing secure operating sytems.

Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#19

Post by kakarot »

This was an awesome read. These guys are doing some of the most groundbreaking work in computing right now.

The idea of having an "operating system" made up of components dispersed across the globe seems like a fantasy that is too good to be true.

If Qubes can finally provide a method for passing through NVIDIA GPUs with this kind of architecture, Xen or not, that would be incredible. It's the only reason I had to leave Qubes.

Re: Qubes Air: Generalizing the Qubes Architecture

#20

Post by viraptor »

weinzierl wrote: post #10

I‘m a heavy user of Qubes OS. The “Convert to Tusted PDF” feature is something I use almost daily. My use case is examining, cleaning and possibly distributing application letters and CVs. If you have to read job application letters, the advice to just open files from people you trust, just doesn’t work. The amount of untargeted malware we receive through this channel is considerable. We had targeted attacks too. I’v…

Have you considered a jailed pdf reader application instead? I'm curious what the decision factors were important for you.
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