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Linux FUD | Volkswagen software scandal | Funkwerks Brewing
Beer:
- Out of Fort Collins, Boups and Mark have made a trip there
- Specialty is saisons
- Founders met in winter 2009 at a brewing college, Siebel Institute, and opened brewery afterward.
- Distributed – At least through Colorado, don’t think you can get it out of state
- Nice graphics, easy to spot on the shelf
Topic:
Linux FUD / Clickbait (@ 8′ in)
- Discussed article in the Washington Post: “The Kernel of the Argument, part of the “Net of Insecurity” series, with tagline: “Fast, flexible and free, Linux is taking over the online world. But there is growing unease about security weaknesses.” by Craig Timberg
- Does the author understand the technology he is talking about or (worse) he does understand them and is purposely misleading?
- Takes multiple ideas and subjects and conflates them, e.g., kernel with the operating system; fails to compare to other operating systems; ties in headlines that are not related; and on and on…
Topic:
Volkswagen: Could free software have saved them? (@ 31:40 in)
- “defeat device” = software that detects what is going on with the car and adjusting the emissions
- Cars have millions of lines of code in them
- Could free software have saved VW? How many other car companies are benefiting by being able to do something shady due to closed software?
- See various articles:
- Volkswagen’s Diesel Fraud Makes Critic of Secret Code a Prophet, New York Times
- Complex Car Software Becomes the Weak Spot Under the Hood, New York Times
- The EPA Deserves Software Freedom, Too, and How Would Software Freedom Have Helped With VW?, Bradley Kuhn
- When tech gets its Nader moment, Walter van Holst
- If you follow free software, this issue has been brought up before in a more compelling way, for example in medical devices
- Mark brought up DMCA and legal liability for reverse engineering/circumventing software and each year there are exceptions granted; most recent announcement to allow limited inspection on automobiles – small step in the right direction
- Argument is if you allow access to source code, people will make it worse
- US gov’t mandated standard port for diagnostic purposes for limited and circumscribed reasons
Nerd & Tell:
Movember (@ 57:15 in)
- Boups touting Movember for men’s health and suggests getting a heart check
Beer (again):
Funkwerks Brewing (@ 58:20 in)
- All the beers we tried are from the Mainline series, but they also have Seasonal, and Experimental series
- Saison – saison ale – 6.8% ABV – Pairs well with high fives.
- Tropic King – imperial saison ale – 8.0% ABV – Pairs well with hula hooping.
- Raspberry Provincial – 4.2% ABV – sour ale brewed with raspberries – Pairs well with cloud watching.
- Deceit – Beligan-style golden ale – 8.5% ABV – Pairs well with half-hearted apologies.