[kwlug-disc] The Open Technology Fund is a front of the U.S. government.

[Mikalai Birukou]

>> It is more of a cautionary tale to not let myself
>> get sidtracked from potentially useful technology by government FUD.
> Let me add a quick technical example.
>
> In the early days, DES was modified by, if I recall, by the NSA.
> Math and security experts at the time didn't know why it was done.
>
> Later on, they understood that what the government did actually
> strengthened the cypher.

I noticed that EFF was also washed with BS in the article, while this 
technical example you recall has part called EFF DES cracker 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFF_DES_cracker

And that article had a spin that pushed me to trust EFF folks less. Spin 
on one hand, evidence on the other.

> What can look suspiscious at first can turn out not to be.  But those
> experts at the time had no solid reason to trust the changes until
> they gained full understanding.