PA Laptop Spying Inspires FSF Crowdsourcing Effort

holmesfsf writes "Creeped out by the Lower Merion School District's remote monitoring of students? Check out the Free Software Foundation's response to the laptop spying scandal and help build a wiki listing of school districts that provide students with laptops, so that the FSF can campaign against mandatory, proprietary laptops."

I wonder about "Free"

[MerlynDavis]

FTA: "any proprietary software is a computer that you don't control". How many people know half of what's going on with "Free" software? How many people not "into" tech know why free software is any different? And, how much free software is actually so thoroughly audited that everyone knows everything it does?

At some point, you have to take someone's word that the software you are loading on your computer is "trustworthy", unless you're going to write it all yourself. And even then, how much of that code is going to be your own, and how much will be copied from elsewhere?

Free software isn't inherently more trustworthy, it simply moves the trust relationship around.

Re:Meh.

[Enleth]

1. Install VirtualBox.
2. Install Windows as a guest (preferably the same version as host if it is Windows, or some believable version if the host is a *nix or whatever).
3. Start the virtual machine in full-screen mode, with automatic USB and CD pass-through.
4. Let them install all the crap they want, smiling and thanking them for it.
5. Save the sate of the virtual machine just in case it's suddenly needed sometime in the future.
6. ???
7. Prifot, and a crap-free computer with a good VM system installed for other uses.

Re:Meh.

[bmo]

I call BS.

How is that a felony? Explain using examples and US law.

I'll wait right here.

--
BMO

Re:So when will RMS stop using his?

[maxwell demon]

And was the machine actually built according to those specs? Did he verify it?