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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Lasse Collin, the other xz maintainer, has acknowledged the backdoor (tukaani.org)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

24 comments fedilink hide all child comments

They haven't particularly made a comment on the situation so much as acknowledged it's happening. They seem to be going with the story that they had nothing to do with it and this is news to them. Hope to hear more from them soon so we can find out more about the situation, how and why this happened, etc.

(The sceptical tone isn't because of disbelief of Collin, it's because we don't know enough about the situation to be able to say Collin is or isn't telling the truth here.)

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[–] [email protected] 170 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Don't be too hard on Collin. Looking back on the threads it's fairly clear he's been the victim of a social engineering attack on an overworked maintainer. People were pressuring him to hand over maintainership while expressing disappointment at the slow pace of development. The off-list contact by Jia must have seemed like a helpful enthusiastic solution to a burnt out developer.

[–] [email protected] 95 points 8 months ago (1 children)

People were pressuring him to hand over maintainership while expressing disappointment at the slow pace of development.

Very likely that was part of the attack as well.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 8 months ago

Definitely sounds like it. This happened to me in a real company as well. It was butal.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I agree with that assessment, I'm not accusing Collin of anything. If it is what it seems to be then I feel very bad for him. Just being cautious with wording until things are more settled/until we know more is all.

[–] UckyBon 35 points 8 months ago

I just made a similar comment in another thread here:

I read a lot about how we should double, triple check all the code. But what we shouldn't forget is to check up on our people too.