[colmmacc]

I don't mean any offense - but your position is not self-consistent. "Showing us the code" does not invalidate "could change it every day to match their whims".

For example the entire source code to Linux is public, but looking from the outside, you as an observer have no way to know that a particular copy of the Linux code is what is running on my laptop.

Which is why I say it's a side-show. If the source code is shabby, getting it might help a little in the short-term; it makes the whole process less reputable. But code can be rewritten. It distracts from the real need; independent verification of the process itself.

[gipp]

The point, though, is that releasing the source code under the pretense that it is the running code can create a legal obligation that what's released is what's run. No, it doesn't prevent them from running something else, but it at least creates the possibility of audits and consequences if they do so.

[esquivalience]

They already have a legal obligation to count appropriately. The publicity of the source code is irrelevant to that.

[zmmmmm]

Thanks - this is exactly my point.

[efaref]

But do you even trust the compiler they use?

Computers you don't totally control are inherently untrustworthy: http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html

For most things it doesn't matter enough, but for deciding who gets to run the country, I think we need a higher standard.

[bmm6o]

I know everyone likes to cite that paper whenever they can, but it's not really relevant here. In this hypothetical, they give you the source but they compile it to binary. They do not provide you with the compiler or its source. The compiler can be malicious, but there's no need to hide its maliciousness - they don't even prove that the software running is in any way derived from the source they've given you! It would be a giant leap forward to have to design against KT-level shenanigans. The whole process can currently be subverted with CS 101-level jiggery pokery.

[SixSigma]

So why not also demand the object code. Then you can mistrust the hardware instead.

[smtddr]

I actually see where both you and the person you're debating with are coming from. Yeah, it's kinda a side-show because they can publish anything they want and you or I can't verify that's truly what is running. But it's a side-show that can turn into the main-show if the government really screws it up or a whistle-blower appears on the scene. From that angle, I say making them publish the code & promise the public that's the real code in production will then at least add one more avenue for any government-scandals to be "accidentally" revealed.

Basically, the more often you can force someone to tell a lie the more likely they screw up somewhere and it all falls apart.

[jfoster]

If they could be legally compelled to release it once, perhaps there is some way of legally compelling them to always have the most recent version published.