457
submitted 3 months ago by SatyrSack@lemmy.one to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

I had no idea this issue had been identified. While I find this tool very useful, the project is seeming rather questionable to me now.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 62 points 3 months ago

Hey guys open source is great you can look at all the code and therefore there are no security backdoors etc. Also here are a bunch of pre-compiled blobs in the repo, don't worry about those, but they are required to run the program.

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 93 points 3 months ago

The fact that people know there are pre-compiled blobs in open source means they have an informed reason to avoid the software!

[-] delirious_owl@discuss.online 19 points 3 months ago

Right, the fact that it's open is the reason this came to light, and we're having this discussion

[-] ulkesh@beehaw.org 4 points 3 months ago

Exactly. Acting like this is an “ah-ha, see?!!” moment when this is exactly what open source is designed for. That’s like saying global warming is a hoax because “oh look it’s snowing”.

[-] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 months ago

This isn't a knock against opensource programming, but there shouldn't ever be precompiled blobs in the repo unless they are the official builds for the various OS's and if you want to build from source, the pre-compiled blobs shouldn't be part of that, otherwise you can't really claim you are opensource.

[-] ulkesh@beehaw.org 1 points 3 months ago

Yes, and that’s what is being called out here. But your original comment makes it sound like you are advocating for closed source software and that somehow open source software is bad.

This is the system working as intended. When potential issues arise, it’s openly discussed and ideally resolved. And if not, trust is lost and people will stop using it.

[-] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I don't know about the history of the project, but it sounds like those blobs have been there for quite some time. When in reality, the PR that added the blobs in the first place shouldn't ever have been approved.

Actually just checked 3+ years.

[-] delirious_owl@discuss.online 1 points 3 months ago

Well, it is an "ah-ha, see!" moment, because it shows the benefit of open source.

Its more like pointing at the absence of a glacier on a mountaintop and saying "yep, see, climate change does exist"

[-] ulkesh@beehaw.org 1 points 3 months ago

I was referring to the commenter and how it read to me :) But agreed, what you said, too.

this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2024
457 points (99.1% liked)

Open Source

31746 readers
133 users here now

All about open source! Feel free to ask questions, and share news, and interesting stuff!

Useful Links

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon from opensource.org, but we are not affiliated with them.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS