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content/posts/floss-security.gmi
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@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ Both Patience and Drew Devault argue that given the above points, a project whos
I've gone over some examples of how analyzing a software's security properties need not depend on source code, and vulnerability discovery in both FLOSS and in proprietary software uses source-agnostic techniques. Dynamic and static black-box techniques are powerful tools that work well from user-space (Zoom) to kernel-space (Linux) to low-level components like Intel ME+AMT. Source code enables the vulnerability-fixing process but has limited utility for the evaluation/discovery process. I've gone over some examples of how analyzing a software's security properties need not depend on source code, and vulnerability discovery in both FLOSS and in proprietary software uses source-agnostic techniques. Dynamic and static black-box techniques are powerful tools that work well from user-space (Zoom) to kernel-space (Linux) to low-level components like Intel ME+AMT. Source code enables the vulnerability-fixing process but has limited utility for the evaluation/discovery process.
Likewise, don't assume software is safer than proprietary alternatives just because its source is visible. There are lots of great reasons to switch from macOS or Windows to Linux (it's been my main OS for years), but security is low on that list: Don't assume software is safer than proprietary alternatives just because its source is visible; come to a conclusion after analyzing both. There are lots of great reasons to switch from macOS or Windows to Linux (it's been my main OS for years), but security is low on that list:
=> https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/linux.html Linux (In)security => https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/linux.html Linux (In)security

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content/posts/floss-security.md
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@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ Conclusion
I've gone over some examples of how analyzing a software's security properties need not depend on source code, and vulnerability discovery in both FLOSS and in proprietary software uses source-agnostic techniques. Dynamic and static black-box techniques are powerful tools that work well from user-space (Zoom) to kernel-space (Linux) to low-level components like Intel ME+AMT. Source code enables the vulnerability-fixing process but has limited utility for the evaluation/discovery process. I've gone over some examples of how analyzing a software's security properties need not depend on source code, and vulnerability discovery in both FLOSS and in proprietary software uses source-agnostic techniques. Dynamic and static black-box techniques are powerful tools that work well from user-space (Zoom) to kernel-space (Linux) to low-level components like Intel ME+AMT. Source code enables the vulnerability-fixing process but has limited utility for the evaluation/discovery process.
Likewise, don't assume software is safer than proprietary alternatives just because its source is visible. There are lots of great reasons to switch from macOS or Windows to Linux (it's been my main OS for years), but security is [low on that list](https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/linux.html). Don't assume software is safer than proprietary alternatives just because its source is visible; come to a conclusion after analyzing both. There are lots of great reasons to switch from macOS or Windows to Linux (it's been my main OS for years), but security is [low on that list](https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/linux.html).
All other things being mostly equal, FLOSS is obviously _preferable_ from a security perspective; I listed some reasons why in the counter-arguments section. Unfortunately, being helpful is not the same as being necessary. All I argue is that source unavailability does not imply insecurity, and source availability does not imply security. Analysis approaches that don't rely on source are typically the most powerful, and can be applied to both source-available and source-unavailable software. Plenty of proprietary software is more secure than FLOSS alternatives; few would argue that the sandboxing employed by Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge is more vulnerable than Pale Moon or most WebKitGTK-based browsers, for instance. All other things being mostly equal, FLOSS is obviously _preferable_ from a security perspective; I listed some reasons why in the counter-arguments section. Unfortunately, being helpful is not the same as being necessary. All I argue is that source unavailability does not imply insecurity, and source availability does not imply security. Analysis approaches that don't rely on source are typically the most powerful, and can be applied to both source-available and source-unavailable software. Plenty of proprietary software is more secure than FLOSS alternatives; few would argue that the sandboxing employed by Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge is more vulnerable than Pale Moon or most WebKitGTK-based browsers, for instance.