Linus has never been one to pull punches. In his recent Google+ post on OpenSuSE he is consistent and quite funny.

Whoever moron thought that it’s “good security” to require the root password for everyday things like this is mentally diseased.

So here’s a plea: if you have anything to do with security in a distro, and think that my kids… need to have the root password to access some wireless network, or to be able to print out a paper, or to change the date-and-time settings, please just kill yourself now. The world will be a better place.

My lap times on the Information Superhighway have been going lower.

It’s ugly and getting more so. Proof that you can only rely on yourself when it comes to your digital privacy and security. You must be the one in control if you will have a chance to protect yourself. Details here. And a /. post here. After you read that you may need some comic relief:

The U.S. House of Representatives has the following to say about the TSA:

Since its inception, TSA has hired over 137,000 employees, grown into a mammoth bureaucracy
of 65,000 employees, spent almost $57 billion, yet has failed to detect any major terrorist threat
since 9/11, including the Shoe Bomber, the Underwear Bomber, the Times Square Bomber, and
the Toner Cartridge Bomb Plot. Congress created TSA to be a lean organization that would
analyze intelligence and set risk-based security standards for the U.S. transportation system.
Today, TSA suffers from bureaucratic morass and mismanagement. The agency needs to
properly refocus its resources on assessing threats and intelligence, instituting appropriate
regulations, and auditing and adjusting security performance. TSA cannot do this effectively as
a massive human resources agency.

Today, TSA‘s screening policies are based in theatrics. They are typical, bureaucratic responses to failed security policies meant to assuage the concerns of the traveling public.

The full report can be had HERE.

The report is great for those who did not already know its findings, so their education is important. However, I hope people will understand that the TSA is not a “safety” endeavor at its core. It is a planed desensitization of the people to an ongoing and increasing attempt at the removal of our rights. Don’t be fooled by the reports ulterior motive to distract you from the true cause of the TSA.