Posted on 12/08/2013 2:21:00 PM PST by Utilizer
Microsoft announced a new effort to "[protect] customer data from government snooping." FSF executive director John Sullivan issued the following statement on Thursday, December 5th:
"Microsoft has made renewed security promises before. In the end, these promises are meaningless. Proprietary software like Windows is fundamentally insecure not because of Microsoft's privacy policies but because its code is hidden from the very users whose interests it is supposed to secure. A lock on your own house to which you do not have the master key is not a security system, it is a jail.
Even on proprietary operating systems like Windows, it is advisable to use free software encryption programs such as GNU Privacy Guard. But when no one except Microsoft can see the operating system code underneath, or fix it when problems are discovered, it is impossible to have a true chain of trust.
If the NSA revelations have taught us anything, it is that journalists, governments, schools, advocacy organizations, companies, and individuals, must be using operating systems whose code can be reviewed and modified without Microsoft or any other third party's blessing. When we don't have that, back doors and privacy violations are inevitable.
(Excerpt) Read more at fsf.org ...
...Period!
That was my immediate thought as well.
I should also add, MS also has a much-downplayed backdoor apparently on every copy of every version of their OS, specifically so agencies such as the NSA can gain access.
The fox pledges to do his best to ensure the security of the henhouse.
Microsoft Windows is the Yugo of operating systems.
I would have gone with "the nine-cc Moped of Operating Systems", but having been forced to work on USSR-engineered projects I decided to refrain this once.
Then again, I resolutely stay away from the Atari 2400 systems of the computer world (*cough*-MACS-*cough*) so I am thankful that there are other solutions available. *grin*
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.