Re: Niches for the Hurd: evaluation method; was: DRM musings, capabilities and stuff

[Michal Suchanek]

On 30/12/2008, Arne Babenhauserheide <arne_bab@web.de> wrote:
> Am Dienstag 30 Dezember 2008 14:10:28 schrieb Michal Suchanek:
>
> > Yes, it might. It might generally create encrypted blobs usable only
>  > in non-free environment.
>  >
>  > The choices taken during the design of the system running on your
>  > computer have nothing to do with it.
>
>
> Yes they have, because with a treacherous design, they can use my free tools
>  to create parts I can't access.

Yes, and the tools required are memory protection and a hardware
cryptography device both of which are present in most current systems.

So we are back to all systems being treacherous by design.

>
>  If someone wants to use an unfree tool to betray me, that's all and well (or
>  more exactly: it's bad, but he makes me use unfree software, so what he does
>  is bad anyway :) ).
>
>  But if someone makes my free tools betray me, then that's worse because it
>  destroys my trust in my free tools.
>
>  And making free tools betray me is only really possible on the long run by
>  locking them down to some specific version.
>
>  And with his we're back where we started: The camera makes my computer betray
>  me.
>
>  And since I only use free software (well, almost :( ) that means it makes 
> free
>  software betray me and has to keep me from teaching my software some manners,
>  and at that point Coyotos comes in and allows the remote software to stop
>  working as soon as I teach my local software how to behave.

It's not property of Coyotos. As I have pointed out it can be done
with any system. Since the Hurd has cleaner design than Linux it would
make it easier for the Hurd to be locked down, and Coyotos again aims
at cleaner design than the Hurd which makes the lockdown even easier.

Thanks

Michal