Can you trust your Software ?

We have a major crisis brewing.  One that's been slowly creeping up and the general public is plagued with problems and helpless to do anything about it.

Can users trust their computer?

 Most of us at some point find ourselves with a computer that's full of Virus's, Trojans, spyware, tracking software and other malware.  Few realize there is even a problem till accounts have been compromised, the computers become next to unusable, or are they shut down by a service provider because there computer is sending bad things.

The World Wide Web had become the Wild Wild West as soon as the mass public started using the Internet.

What is amazing is the legislation and law enforcement are making faster strides at dealing with this then the computer programmers!   Funny because the perception is Software is fast and flexible while the law and government are slow and unresponsive.  On a micro scale that is clearly the case, but on a macro scale, Software hasn't made any strides at all to deal with larger overall security issues. Meanwhile the Law can now pull down web sites, block IP, seize servers, monitor traffic, and put out International Arrest Warrants.

Just look at Wikileaks for an example of who is winning Law vs Software?  Never in a million years would I have guessed the System was more responsive then the Hackers.

I create OccupyInside.org because we need to control this software.  Software need to be transparent, Secure and Open Source.

Transparency Begets Trust

Trust builds Confidence

Confidence Builds Success


I think we need some new models for supporting Software development efforts. New methods for management and control of software development, distribution, security and trust.  We need to get this conversation started. 


John L. Sokol


From SlashDot:

Why American Corporate Software Can No Longer Be Trusted

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday December 27, @03:55PM
from the looking-out-for-number-one dept.

jrepin writes"There is a problem with proprietary, closed software, which makes Rick Falkvinge, the founder of the first Pirate Party, a bit uneasy: 'We get a serious democratic deficit when the citizens are not able to inspect if the computers running the country's administrations are actually doing what they claim to be doing, doing all that and something else invisibly on top, doing the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong time, or doing nothing at all. ... In the debate around the American Stop Online Piracy Act, American legislators have demonstrated a clear capability and willingness to interfere with the technical operations of American products, when doing so furthers American political interests regardless of the policy situation in the customer’s country."