[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Thread Index]

[school-discuss] Open/Disclosed Source &c



As usual, I don't know how many of you follow the
Freedom-To-Tinker blog--so here is a fairly recent
item on the status of some FLOSS concepts in the
never-ending mess with e-voting:

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/dwallach/open-source-vs-disclosed-source-voting-systems

Here is one part of the article that I think goes
to the heart of the philosophy underlying FLOSS:

"Disclosing the source code only results in a
complete forfeiture of the software's security
if there was never any security there in the
first place. If the product is well-engineered,
then disclosing the software will cause no
additional security problems. If the product is
poorly-engineered, then the lack of disclosure
only serves the purpose of delaying the inevitable."

One of the responders to the article also expresses
the fundamental point rather well:

"When bad guys discover secrets, they keep quiet.
They reuse the secrets or wait for a great
opportunity to exploit. If most secrets are being
discovered by black hats, most secrets will stay
hidden from public view and will be used to
compromise election after election or at least
important elections. When white hats find flaws,
they make noise, the result being that security
bloopers get rooted out much quicker."

It seems to me that high school students (soon to be
old enough to vote) and college students ought to be
exposed to these ongoing techno-political debates.
What would be the best ways for teachers in the fields
of computer science, social studies, &c (as many areas
as possible) to collaborate in the construction of
relevant inter-disciplinary curricula? Of course (as is
usual with high-tech topics), some of the students will
be more knowledgeable than some of the teachers--but
that can be a plus *IF* it is handled right.

Joel