While the quality of FOSS is sometimes inferior when compared to the popular proprietary closed-source alternative, one advantage always exists: the source code is available for inspection and modification by anybody who has the interest to do so. Therefore, a backdoor would be very difficult to hide in the code of a popular FOSS project that many people are contributing on. Sure, a malevolent developer could sneak bad code in for nefarious purposes, but the video below by Kris Occhipinti explains a lot of things well. There are multiple things which he says that I disagree with and where I think he's wrong, such as that OS X is more secure than Windows (I've read plenty of research showing how far behind OS X is [years] in terms of security patches, not to mention that MS has much more money than Apple to allot to their operating systems security division). However, most of what he says is accurate and brings about some good points. I've always suspected that backdoors exist in Windows and every other proprietary OS, and it's obvious why governments around the world are interested in Linux users and those who are visiting Linux-related sites: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/nsa ... rveillance
It's already came out that the US government has the ability to wiretap Skype calls, so it's obvious Skype is an insecure form of communication. A cracker can possibly break Skype's encryption which most likely has built-in weaknesses, and/or take advantage of whatever, if any built-in backdoor that may be buried in Skype's ugly proprietary code. Can we say for sure that there's a backdoor in Skype? No, but myriads of ordinary people didn't want to believe that Mark Klein's story was true, yet the documents Edward Snowden leaked exactly corroborated Mr. Klein's evidence and statements. Catch my drift? If you can't see the source code for yourself, the program can't be trusted. Period. Richard Stallman has been talking about this for years, but only truly awake people are able to understand the repercussions, nastiness, and violations that happen to ordinary users running proprietary software. Give an average IQ person Angry Birds, WhatsApp and Facebook, and the idea of privacy (not that anything beyond turning their device on or off is able to be understood) goes out the window. These people do not understand how packet switching works and how their traffic and data can easily be intercepted and stored by the NSA and GCHQ, and also, since the aforementioned isn't visible and they're being distracted by some mindless yet "convenient feature", the smartphone, tablet, etc., becomes a device which makes the user shoot themselves in their own foot without even knowing it. Even after Snowden's disclosures, how are people reacting to it? Most people just don't care because their stupid life is too important to them and only they matter, and the idea of them being spied on is remote. "How can anybody be spying on me when I look outside my window and nobody's there? Look at my new high score!". This systemic problem isn't so much of a problem with the government. It's a problem with the people, and shows exactly which direction the US and other countries are headed in. The reason I've drawn a comparison between government spying and proprietary OS's is because a propriety OS facilitates government spying. Even though they are two vastly different topics, both of them go hand in hand and must both be discussed simultaneously. Otherwise, and sorry to say, you're a complete uninformed fucking idiot and don't deserve to be part of the debate.
Anyhow, with all that said, here's new evidence that iOS has backdoors built-in to it: http://www.zdnet.com/forensic-scientist ... 000031795/ The question then becomes, how much evidence does it take for the public to elect new people that don't repeat the policies of their predecessors, and how can it be guaranteed that these newly elected people do what they promised to do when they were running? Does Barack Obama ring a bell? The frustrating thing is, that nothing is going to change anytime soon as far as governments spying on people goes. There's a difference between the truth and living in a fantasy land. I choose to live in the real world, not a fantasy world. Which one do you choose?