Re: The Spirit of Free Software, or The Reality

[Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>]

Nikolaus Rath writes ("Re: The Spirit of Free Software, or The Reality"):
> On Jul 15 2015, Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> > If I use Iceweasl to visit the EFF's web pages, over TLS, I see no
> > reason why I should be exposed to any privacy violations (other than
> > any implied by decisons taken by the EFF).
> 
> I agree with you. There is no reason, and it would be nice if Iceweasel
> would not violate your privacy if you do so.

Right.  I find it disappointing to discover that in Debian we have
deliberately modified Iceweasl to make this problem worse, even if
only in a modest way.

> However, I am not at all surprised that Iceweasel is doing that. If I
> want privacy, I don't run Iceweasel but something like w3m. That's a lot
> more reliable than changing Iceweasel to not download some icons and
> disable safe browsing.

Well, that may be a realistic assessment.  But others in this thread
have suggested possible ways to gain more assurance about the
behaviour of programs like Iceweasel.  I think people who want to do
that deserver our moral and practical support.

And one thing we could easily do (well, easily from a technical point
of view, if we could agree to do it) would be to not download the
icons.  AIUI downloading the icons was a change that was made in
Debian for DFSG reasons.

Thanks,
Ian.