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Comment by vageli | Hacker News Reader

> For my own part, outside of OS and security software, which I feel should be 100% monolithic and black box, I'm fine with the idea of all text and code of every program and file being available to anyone who may wish to improve it.

Curious to hear why you think OS and security software should be black boxes and not open.

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Because I don't trust anyone. I feel that human interference is a security problem that can't be overcome and should be reduced by every possible means.

By that same logic, you shouldn't trust the creators of the monolithic black box either. So you can't trust anyone, except yourself and the OS only you have access to.

In general, do you not find carrying this level of paranoia on a daily basis is simply oppressive to your own well being?

You're right. The preference would be that each person has access to a single part of the black box and no access to anyone or any other part of the whole shebang. Either that or the old way of dealing with people involved in things that have to remain secret. Of course, you behead enough OS devs and soon there won't be any.

As far as my daily life, no not really. I just live a life where I grant very few people a view into the things I consider private, and ensure that every two or three people know contradictory things without knowing the parts that put them together. It leads to a robust but distant social web.

> I grant very few people a view into the things I consider private, and ensure that every two or three people know contradictory things without knowing the parts that put them together

Sounds exhausting, I can't imagine using that much mental energy to keep up this web, but your life your rules.

What are the vectors you fear? If anything, an open OS makes vulnerabilities less of a commodity and more eyes = easier fixes.

The vectors I fear are the potentially malicious brains behind every pair of eyes. Why do you want to see my OS (or really any of my software)? The only reason I can think of is to have access to my files, or to hijack my machine and install customized ransomware as part of the OS. Therefore, any individual who sees any part of my OS that could grant them any access whatsoever to any part of my PC is an extreme and real danger.

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