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by VyseofArcadia 431 days ago
> My point here is, I'd really hate to gatekeep software development to a small group of "licensed" engineers. If anything, I want the opposite--to enpower more people to make software for themselves, so they can make their computers work for them. (This is why I dislike iOS so much.)

I 100% agree. I wouldn't want to gatekeep software development in general. I would only put the PE requirement on companies that are running a service connected to the internet that collects user data.

Want to make an application that never phones home at all? Go nuts. Want to run a service that never collects any sensitive data? Sure thing! Want to run a service that needs sensitive data to function? Names, addresses, credit card info? Yeah, you're going to need a PE to sign off of that.

Side note, I was a math teacher in a previous life. Congrats on the relatively new career, and thanks for your service.
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Wowfunhappy 431 days ago
> Want to make an application that never phones home at all? Go nuts. Want to run a service that never collects any sensitive data? Sure thing! Want to run a service that needs sensitive data to function? Names, addresses, credit card info? Yeah, you're going to need a PE to sign off of that.

Agreed, but I do think a tool like curl makes this a little complicated. To my knowledge, curl itself does not phone home or collect user data, but it's obviously security critical.

...or maybe it's not, now that I think about it. Curl is not end-user software. Maybe when other software uses curl, that software gets a PE sign off. But now this is starting to feel to me like another dumb compliance checkbox system. Is it?

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captn3m0 430 days ago
Curl is end-user software when Debian packages it in their repository.
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VyseofArcadia 430 days ago
I think end-users should always be empowered to be cavalier with their own cybersecurity. Organizations managing the data of others, however, should be held to a higher standard. If this means that an organization is using curl, they should have a PE responsible for auditing curl for security flaws.
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