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The NSA Will Release 'Niagarafiles' Data Analysis Tool as Open Source

posted by janrinok on Wednesday November 26 2014, @03:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the I'd-prefer-the-data dept.

sigma writes:

A ZDNet story explains that Niagarafiles, renamed as NiFi, will be released under the Apache license. The tool, which is conceptually derived from flow-based programming, is used for automating data flows across multiple networks, even where data formats and protocols differ.

The project's lead developer, Joseph Witt, said the NSA took great pains to develop the tool in a way that would eventually allow the agency to release its source code.

"From its inception, NiFi was developed with an open source philosophy in mind and with the hopes of eventually being truly open sourced," Witt explained.

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 26 2014, @05:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 26 2014, @05:13PM (#120320)

    Source code cannot harm you - there are no attack vectors via text files opened in editors like Kate or Notepad++.

  • (Score: 2) by arashi no garou on Wednesday November 26 2014, @05:23PM

    by arashi no garou (2796) on Wednesday November 26 2014, @05:23PM (#120321)

    What, no Emacs?

    *ducks*

  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Wednesday November 26 2014, @06:36PM

    by Bot (3902) on Wednesday November 26 2014, @06:36PM (#120336) Journal

    I admit mine was a subtle point, so I elaborate:
    The idea of minding about the freedoms to people given by affero gpl vs other licenses is irrelevant when the tool is used to gather data on people, because the tool operation ends up limiting their freedom, and it's not a question of good faith, it's dynamics.

    Information IS power.
    Information retrieval (to quote Brazil) IS increase of power for one entity.
    Increase of power for some entity IS increase of vulnerability for everybody else.
    Increase of vulnerability IS decrease of freedom.

    So, while releasing the source is relevant (and positive, minus the propaganda/honeypot aspects), minding about the OSS license version is minding whether the bullet aimed to your head is sterile.

    --
    Account abandoned.