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2007-09-11 14:35:02
More than you might suspect...
(Score:5, Informative)
by BWJones (18351) * on Monday September 10, @05:26PM (#20545065)
(http://prometheus.med.utah.edu/~bwjones/ | Last Journal: Thursday August 30,
@04:39PM)
From the linked list:Secrecy level: High. Two reporters from the local
newspaper are the only media who've been inside the compound and written about
it (See "Inside the World of Google"): Google treats any and all details as
though they belong to the National Security Agency.
Well.... I know they were trying to be funny, but the authors could be more
correct that they might have known given the history of Google (startup
partially funded by CIA $s) and how tight they are with NGIA [nga.mil] (Google
Earth [google.com] projects), CIA [cia.gov] etc..., it would not surprise me to
see Google working intimately with NSA [nsa.gov]. After all, Google has been
competing with NSA for PhD mathematicians for some time now (and winning) and
it seems like a natural fit. Of course such a "hypothetical" collaboration
would raise all sorts of ethical questions, but assuming one could
appropriately compartmentalize those concerns, it could certainly be mutually
beneficial.
"Google has in the past had jobs available that required national security
clearance."
Sure, but a security clearance can apply to lots of types of data and a diverse
group of companies and government agencies. Everything from a basic collateral
"secret" clearance (relatively easy to obtain) to "top secret" and
compartmentalized programs are being worked on and participated in by people
from not just government, but also a number of private companies. No big deal
and I would certainly expect Google to have a significant number of folks
possessing those clearances.
ABOUT LINUX:
Biggest Paradigm Change
(Score:5, Insightful)
by Red Jesus (962106) on Monday September 10, @05:51PM (#20545355)
Biggest Paradigm Change in Enterprise Software: Linux kernel
Don't get me wrong: I love Linus and I love Linux. But don't forget what RMS
likes to remind us at every opportunity: Linux is part of the GNU system. And
GNU predated Linux by a long shot.
Stallman started the GNU project in 1983 and founded the Free Software
Foundation in 1985. The Linux kernel appeared in 1991. Where did Torvalds get
his compiler? Where did Torvalds get his editor? Where did Torvalds find people
to work on his kernel? I understand that it can be pedantic to argue about big,
abstract ideas like ``When did the paradigm shift really happen?'' Maybe the
paradigm didn't ``shift'' until the Linux kernel came out. But Torvalds wasn't
out to change paradigms. Stallman was. If we're going to hail the concept of
free software, we should acknowledge the alphabet soup of RMS, the FSF, GNU,
ETC. that gave it legs to stand on.