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If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

combatnerd.com

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Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#31

Post by tsukurimashou »

iRobbery wrote: post #24
koalalorenzo wrote: post #7

The real question is: why he is not using an Hardware Wallet? A ledger wallet is cheap enough if you get worried about your BTC being in an unsafe device. Yes, then you have to trust the company selling it for you, but isn't that the whole business to not compromise their own devices?

Even if he would have somebody would mention, 'yeah but if you did not make the hardware yourself, you dont own your BTC' I guess at least :)

his point is not "if you didn't make it you don't own it" his point is about proprietary software and how closed / how your control over them is very limited

Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#32

Post by abdullahkhalids »

A number of comments in this thread strawmanning the OP's argument. The main point is simply that if you don't have complete legal control, in perpetuity, of the system that you are storing your cryptocurrency on, then if your license is cancelled by legal means, you may lose your data [1]. OP is not talking about whether FOSS or proprietary software has more bugs or has more chances of having backdoors. OP is not talking about source code audits etc. He is only making a point about the legal ramifications of OSCorp EULA vs FOSS licenses.

[1] There is a secondary point that employees within OSCorp cannot be trusted to not access your data.

Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#33

Post by Piskvorrr »

ryanlol wrote: post #2

This guy is a downright idiot if he thinks that he has any more control over his keys on desktop Linux without actually auditing all the source code himself. The idea that ElementaryOS is less likely to steal your coins than Windows or OS X is simply laughable.

Less likely...perhaps, but for all the wrong reasons ;)

That is, Windows is a target that's an order of magnitude bigger - of course there will be more attacks.

The kernel is auditable...maybe, possibly, theoretically, to a point - but what good is a kernel, when there's unauditable firmware between the OS and the hardware?

Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#34

Post by whoo »

Additionally, if you don't run a full node, you don't know if you own btc.

For those interested in BTC security, the best you can do IMO is glacier protocol (which I'm surprised isn't mentioned in this article) https://glacierprotocol.org/

ColdCard wallets are also an excellent choice, even better when used as a part of a multisig setup with your desktop, more cold cards, or another hardware wallet.

Multisig across multiple hw wallets / computers (2/3 at least) is the best solution to self custody IMO. Single sig is SPOFfy.

Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#35

Post by turc1656 »

normalnorm wrote: post #26
hluska wrote: post #19

I am torn on this article. If I read it through my developer lens, I’m not impressed - this cranks up the paranoia to a near useless level and the panacea offered is really a false hope. But, when I look at it through a more compassionate lens, I worry about this individual’s health. Hey writer, if you’re reading this and you need someone to talk to, my email is on my profile. Have a happy 2020.

To me, your offer of "help" reads like a thinly disguised attack / insult. I guess we all know about the "humblebrag", this is "backhanded empathy". Or something. The author is not saying anything that is not true. Given everything that happened and was disclosed in the past decade, I don't think one has to be paranoid to be deeply suspicious of black box software controlled by big tech.

Being suspicious of activity monitoring is one thing. Being suspicious that one of the largest companies in the world is actually keylogging your passwords so that they can steal bitcoins is another. Or that a few rogue employees at said company would be able to commit code that makes it all the way to end user machines to achieve that, bypassing all code reviews, testing, etc. is sort of insane.

Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#36

Post by grifball »

raimille1 wrote: post #22

1) "... am sure you entered the password into some input field, which means that you have handed your password over to your Operating System" ... 2) "The easiest way to get started is to install Linux in a Virtual Machine and get yourself familiar with the system." Therefore, enter your password into an input field, in a virtual machine inside your proprietary Operating System key logging you?

Keyword: "get started". Most ppl don't want to dual boot, so installing a VM is a stepping stone to getting fully comfortable with the OS so you can then use it on bare metal.

Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#37

Post by Nitramevfank »

normalnorm wrote: post #26
hluska wrote: post #19

I am torn on this article. If I read it through my developer lens, I’m not impressed - this cranks up the paranoia to a near useless level and the panacea offered is really a false hope. But, when I look at it through a more compassionate lens, I worry about this individual’s health. Hey writer, if you’re reading this and you need someone to talk to, my email is on my profile. Have a happy 2020.

To me, your offer of "help" reads like a thinly disguised attack / insult. I guess we all know about the "humblebrag", this is "backhanded empathy". Or something. The author is not saying anything that is not true. Given everything that happened and was disclosed in the past decade, I don't think one has to be paranoid to be deeply suspicious of black box software controlled by big tech.

I never touched Bitcoin so maybe you can clarify how this makes sense:

> If Microsoft decides to terminate your license, what happens to your Bitcoin?

Your Bitcoin is represented by some kind of data stored on your computer I assume. So this data should be backed up, right? So the anwser is that you would access the bit coins from some device which you have a license to use?

If my understanding is right then I would consider the quoted statement to be a bit FUD:y.

Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#38

Post by fortran77 »

hluska wrote: post #19

I am torn on this article. If I read it through my developer lens, I’m not impressed - this cranks up the paranoia to a near useless level and the panacea offered is really a false hope. But, when I look at it through a more compassionate lens, I worry about this individual’s health. Hey writer, if you’re reading this and you need someone to talk to, my email is on my profile. Have a happy 2020.

I agree. This was just a variant of the usual Stallmanesque talking points wrapped in a bitcoin bow.

Re: If you don't own your OS, you don't own your BTC

#40

Post by turc1656 »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #28
jcranmer wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're discounting the risk that, because it's open source, everyone assumes that someone else has done the security analysis. That is precisely what happened with OpenSSL--everyone assumed, since it's a big open source package, that somebody was keeping on top of this sort of issue, but nobody was. That there have been two major OpenSSL security fumbles (first was the Debian OpenSSL fiasco, second Heartbleed) sort o…

How's that different to MS Windows, we assume the code is good, but some of the errors/oversights that crop up beggar belief.

It's not different. I think that's their point. FOSS like Linux doesn't automagically make it "safer" than proprietary systems like Windows.
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