Josh and Kurt talk to Fiona Krakenbürger about the Sovereign Tech Fund. This is a fund created by Germany to fund important open source projects. Fiona has amazing insight into how this fund was created, what it’s doing today to help fund open source. She discusses where we go from here and what the futureContinue reading “Episode 368 – The Sovereign Tech Fund with Fiona Krakenbürger”
Tag Archives: open source
Episode 357 – Is open source being overexploited?
Josh and Kurt talk about how to think about open source in the context of society. Open source is more like a natural resource than a supplier. It’s common to think of open source projects as delivered to us, but it’s more like acquiring raw materials from the forest. The problem is we’re harvesting theContinue reading “Episode 357 – Is open source being overexploited?”
The perverse incentive of vulnerability counting
It seems like every few years the topic of counting vulnerabilities in products shows up. Last time the focus seemed to be around vulnerabilities in Linux distributions, which made distroless and very small container images popular. Today it seems to be around the vulnerabilities in open source dependencies. The general idea is you want toContinue reading “The perverse incentive of vulnerability counting”
Episode 343 – Stop trying to fix the open source software supply chain
Josh and Kurt talk about a blog post that explains there isn’t really an open source software supply chain. The whole idea of open source being one thing is incorrect, open source is really a lot of little things put together. A lot of companies and organizations get this wrong. Show Notes
Episode 341 – Time till open source alternative
Josh and Kurt talk about the Time Till Open Source Alternative blog post. The numbers probably don’t mean what we think they mean anymore. A lot of modern open source is really corporate controlled. Just because something carries an open source license doesn’t mean you can contribute to it. Show Notes
Episode 333 – Open Source is unfair
Josh and Kurt talk about Microsoft creating a policy of not allowing anyone to charge for open source in their app store. This policy was walked back quickly, but it raises some questions about how fair or unfair open source really is. It’s mostly unfair to developers if you look at the big picture. ShowContinue reading “Episode 333 – Open Source is unfair”
Episode 325 – Is one open source maintainer enough?
Josh and Kurt talk about a recent OpenSSF issue that asks the question how many open source maintainers should a project have that’s “healthy”? Josh did some research that shows the overwhelming majority of packages have one maintainer. What does that mean? Show Notes OpenSSF TAC Issue 101
Episode 323 – The fake 7-Zip vulnerability and SBOM
Josh and Kurt talk about a fake 7-Zip security report. It’s pretty clear that everyone is running open source all the time. We end on some thoughts around what SBOM is good for, and who should be responsible for them. Show Notes Probably fake 7-Zip
Episode 314 – The Linux Dirty Pipe vulnerability
Josh and Kurt talk about the Linux Kernel Dirty Pipe security vulnerability. This bug is an amazing combination of amazing complexity, incredible simplicity, and a little bit of luck. The discovery is amazing, the analysis is enlightening. There’s almost no way a bug like this could be found outside of open source. Show Notes DirtyContinue reading “Episode 314 – The Linux Dirty Pipe vulnerability”
Episode 312 – The Legend of the SBOM
Josh and Kurt talk about SBOMs. Not what they are, there’s plenty about that. We talk about why everyone keeps claiming they’re super important, and why we’re starting to see some people question if we really need them. SBOMs are part of a future that’s still being invented. Show Notes Questioning SBOMs Rezilion Log4j diagram David A WheelerContinue reading “Episode 312 – The Legend of the SBOM”
Open Source Security 