To GNU + Linux Users

I've been lurking here for a couple of years, and I see that many people have come to trust using GNU + Linux distributions and TAILS, mistaking their non-Windows design for an assurance of privacy. Though Windows definitely has some privacy concerns if you neglect the system's default settings, and install non-free software, Linux is not any safer the way most of you are using it.
ANY proprietary (non-free) software you install has great potential to contain a backdoor. nVidia graphics drivers, ATI drivers, Flash player, etc. Hell, even hardware backdoors exist now, making it harder and harder for us to express our freedom to liberty. Ubuntu, Arch Linux, Debian, Red Hat, Fedora Gentoo... none of them are approved by the Free Software Foundation, and thus they have astronomical potential to fill your system with backdoors that could end up incriminating you in the future.
So how do you solve this, you may ask? My advice is to only install distributions approved by the Free Software Foundation, and don't install ANY software that is not licensed under the GNU GPL license, meaning the source code can be read, modified, and redistributed freely. If the source can't be audited, you are sacrificing your personal freedoms by supporting their software, and likely your privacy too.
In my opinion, the whole "TAILS" thing is a big hoax, considering it loads up proprietary software onto your system. No one who's created a distro for privacy would include non-free software in their distro, unless they planned on handing your information to the government. The OS claims to be "free software," yet they directly state on their website that they load non-free firmware. They have absolutely no right to claim that they're free when they commit such a violation against user privacy. You could just as easily boot a live USB of one of the above distros and install the necessary software.


Comments


[9 Points] Chronicpurple:

You remind me of the time I was reading "Linux for Dummies" dropping distro names and sharing some mundane ass ideas to my HS buddies who either thought I was a wiz or just rolled their eyes listening to me going on and on with my bullshit. I now realize they wanted to say "Shut the fuck up and take your bullshit outta here" but they couldn't bring themselves to say it though it was what everyone was thinking. I find myself in the same predicament now.


[7 Points] tailsjoin:

Tails is the best thing that ever happened to these sheep. You can't expect everyone else to be as 1337 as you are. Do you really believe Tails is not safer than windows? Do you really believe Ubuntu (the closest thing Linux has to windows) out of the box is not safer than windows out of the box?? I've never seen an amazon app pre-installed on a linux distro before. Isn't 90% of malware written for Windows? Doesn't that alone make Windows more dangerous?

For real, you sound like you just found free software and now you want to shove it down everyones throat.

You could just as easily boot a live USB of one of the above distros and install the necessary software.

Are you even thinking when you make a statement like that? Maybe a handful of people on this sub could even accomplish what you said. The real problem is that TAILS does SO much more than that. How about isolated proxies for every app that has a network connection, how about the iptable rules, how about the firewall, how about the gpg.conf and ever other conf that they configured for you with a devoted team and years of work?

You think some random kid from around here is going to download an iso, put it on a usb and then do a devoted teams years worth of work to it just to buy some weed. You're out of your mind. Or maybe you think they'll all write 10,000 line scripts that automate the process?


[2 Points] None:

The more complex something is, the larger code base it has which also means more vulnerabilities. I think you're overlooking the point of TAILS, which is that even if it's compromised, there is limited damage. If an entity complex enough wants you enough to risk burning a million dollar 0day on you then nothing will prevent you from getting got. Not even your precious libre software.


[2 Points] hksupport:

Technically you're right, but unless you're printing your own chips and writing your own OS from machine code yourself, at some point you're going to have to place trust in somebody.


[1 Points] throw_away_king9:

So...Linux/Tails then?


[1 Points] None:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gRsgkdfYJ8

NSA approached Linus Torvalds asking to backdoor Linux.


[0 Points] SmauqDrogs:

Upvote for visibility. This seems to be a good topic for debate.