News: 0000816342

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Unangst: Rethinking OpenBSD security

([Security] Mar 31, 2020 13:44 UTC (Tue) (corbet))


OpenBSD developer Ted Unangst [1]looks for lessons in a set of recent vulnerabilities in that system. " Even OpenBSD is subject to compromise for the sake of practicality, which is how some legacy designs stick around. So the lesson perhaps is to really stick with the principles that work, and not just when convenient. But not always an easy choice to make. "



[1] https://flak.tedunangst.com/post/rethinking-openbsd-security

The General disliked trying to explain the highly technical inner
workings of the U.S. Air Force.
"$7,662 for a ten cup coffee maker, General?" the Senator asked.
In his head he ran through his standard explanations. "It's not so,"
he thought. "It's a deterrent." Soon he came up with, "It's computerized,
Senator. Tiny computer chips make coffee that's smooth and full-bodied. Try
a cup."
The Senator did. "Pfffttt! Tastes like jet fuel!"
"It's not so," the General thought. "It's a deterrent."
Then he remembered something. "We bought a lot of untested computer
chips," the General answered. "They got into everything. Just a little
mix-up. Nothing serious."
Then he remembered something else. It was at the site of the
mysterious B-1 crash. A strange smell in the fuel lines. It smelled like
coffee. Smooth and full bodied...
-- Another Episode of General's Hospital