this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2024
397 points (94.4% liked)
linuxmemes
21596 readers
451 users here now
Hint: :q!
Sister communities:
Community rules (click to expand)
1. Follow the site-wide rules
- Instance-wide TOS: https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/
- Lemmy code of conduct: https://join-lemmy.org/docs/code_of_conduct.html
2. Be civil
- Understand the difference between a joke and an insult.
- Do not harrass or attack members of the community for any reason.
- Leave remarks of "peasantry" to the PCMR community. If you dislike an OS/service/application, attack the thing you dislike, not the individuals who use it. Some people may not have a choice.
- Bigotry will not be tolerated.
- These rules are somewhat loosened when the subject is a public figure. Still, do not attack their person or incite harrassment.
3. Post Linux-related content
- Including Unix and BSD.
- Non-Linux content is acceptable as long as it makes a reference to Linux. For example, the poorly made mockery of
sudoin Windows. - No porn. Even if you watch it on a Linux machine.
4. No recent reposts
- Everybody uses Arch btw, can't quit Vim, and wants to interject for a moment. You can stop now.
Please report posts and comments that break these rules!
Important: never execute code or follow advice that you don't understand or can't verify, especially here. The word of the day is credibility. This is a meme community -- even the most helpful comments might just be shitposts that can damage your system. Be aware, be smart, don't fork-bomb your computer.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The odds that the US Government, under the authority of Patriot Act, has not inserted spyware into the Windows kernel, I put at an even 50/50.
The US Government has the motive, the leverage (huge customer of Microsoft), and maybe even the legal authority (the Patriot Act overreaches like crazy, and arguably compels certain government officials to gather all available data).
To be clear, I've never seen a shred of evidence that there's any official sanctioned backdoor in Windows. But I can't honestly claim to be sure it's not there.
It's all a bit of a moot point though, as the vast majority of Windows installs export nearly every scrap of data to Office Cloud, and if Office Cloud doesn't have a government back door, I will eat my hat.
Source: The text of the Patriot Act. It basically outright says "we will put a listener anywhere we can reasonably fit one, on US soil."