Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
theregister.co.uk
Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
1–10 of 118 posts
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#2"Because the software is open source it's unlikely that any backdoors could be added into the Ubuntu OS without the global Linux community taking notice."
Depending on the level of involvement China actually has, I don't think they would have any qualms with distributing binaries with backdoors, but keeping their changes secret.
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#3"Because the software is open source it's unlikely that any backdoors could be added into the Ubuntu OS without the global Linux community taking notice." Depending on the level of involvement China actually has, I don't think they would have any qualms with distributing binaries with backdoors, but keeping their changes secret.
But as a mechanism of state control that can be very flimsy, it is much easier, however probably not cheaper, to control the choke point; the network. If all it took to avoid state control was a re-install of a non-approved version of kylin/ubuntu then everyone would do it.
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#4[deleted]
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#5I hate it when they put advertisements on either side of the main content on a web page. Normally I middle-click in that area to scroll.
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#6What happened to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Flag_Linux ?
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#7"Because the software is open source it's unlikely that any backdoors could be added into the Ubuntu OS without the global Linux community taking notice." Depending on the level of involvement China actually has, I don't think they would have any qualms with distributing binaries with backdoors, but keeping their changes secret.
But as a mechanism of state control that can be very flimsy, it is much easier, however probably not cheaper, to control the choke point; the network. If all it took to avoid state control was a re-install of a non-approved version of kylin/ubuntu then everyone would do it.
The mechanisms of state control remain unchanged - and none of them are online. The big fears of the (non-activist) population are that someone will physically take them or their children to a dark hole, and that someone they know will inform on them so that happens.
IP networks are not involved.
East Germany is probably the most obvious example in recent times - and the fear mostly came from knowing someone could inform on you. If you thought a person was going to inform on you, one would avoid them naturally.
So, if you think a computer will inform on you, you would naturally avoid it.
It seems to me that the chinese state is in a bind similar to that faced by Deng xiaoping - this thing the West does (Capitalism or Internet) is enabling them to charge so economically ahead it is an existential threat not to follow. But if we do follow the party risks losing control.
Deng did take the risk and the loss of control seemed to be offset - however this time the rifts in the party are deeper, the gulf between rich and poor wider.
I would not like to be making those choices.
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#8I hate it when they put advertisements on either side of the main content on a web page. Normally I middle-click in that area to scroll.
I'm not sure why the register article is the one being most voted up, instead of the official Canonical announcement: http://www.canonical.com/content/canonical-and-chinese-stand...
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#9Could have a positive effect on consumer grade hardware support for linux in general?
Re: Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system
#10Could have a positive effect on consumer grade hardware support for linux in general?
Yes it could. I suppose especially on ARM/MIPS SoCs (which many consumer devices are based on). Linux is a one of the few valid choices once you stray from x86, especially as China govt has already said they want to reduce dependence on Google/Android. Maybe that's where Ubuntu comes in.