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I found this on one of Devuan's forums
There's a software package called Zeitgeist that's been finding its way into nearly every Linux and BSD package repository. It's also on Devuan. Be sure to read the note at the bottom of this post even if you are not impacted by this.
It reads your emails, it monitors the websites you visit, listens to private conversations, and logs the files on your computer. and then it shares this information freely over D-Bus to any application that wishes to use it. You are given no warning and have no option to say which software can access it, and which can't. Any software can access D-bus, including closed-source software like Discord or Telegram (whether they do or not, who knows).
From the description, it looks as if it is designed to make spyware's job easy. Do you have it on your system? Do you want it on your system?
[Editor's Comment: The package has been around for quite some time (since at least 2012) without any security problems being reported. Ubuntu's repo describes it as:
Zeitgeist is a service which logs the user's activities and events (files opened, websites visited, conversations held with other people, etc.) and makes the relevant information available to other applications.
It does not appear to be installed as default on the small number of distros that I have looked at but it might be installed on others.]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Nuke on Monday January 30 2023, @07:46PM (10 children)
I see it in the repository but it is not installed. Why would anyone install it? Is there supposed to be an upside?
(Score: 4, Informative) by aafcac on Monday January 30 2023, @08:32PM (8 children)
It's personally for corporate users. Or, possibly for automation.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by RS3 on Monday January 30 2023, @10:05PM (6 children)
Came to say that. It greatly pains me to say it, but a corporation may have legitimate reasons to keep tabs (pun not intended) on what employees are doing, or not doing.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RS3 on Tuesday January 31 2023, @03:04AM (5 children)
I meant to add that this kind of worker surveillance usually (obviously) lowers worker morale and productivity. Companies might try to keep it secret, but if and when someone finds out, finds another job, and lets the ex-coworkers know, the atmosphere won't likely be good.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230127-how-worker-surveillance-is-backfiring-on-employers?utm_source=bbc-news&utm_medium=right-hand-slot [bbc.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Reziac on Tuesday January 31 2023, @03:23AM (1 child)
It doesn't have to be for worker surveillance, tho. It can be documentation, which is to say ass-covering, to assure a client that a given action is or is not performed. Employees can be entirely aware, and have a stake in their actions being properly recorded. It can be total internal monitoring of, say, a police department, or a congresscritter's communications, where transparency and complete records are required for public trust.
That assholes abuse a tool doesn't mean it can't have a perfectly honest function, or that it doesn't fill a legit need.
However, I would certainly not install it on my personal PCs.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 31 2023, @08:22AM
Yeah. "Here's proof that I was not responsible for the screw up. You can see that everything I did on that VM was 100% according to SOP, company guidelines and perfectly reasonable for the task at hand."
For similar reasons I often do video recordings of my screen while I do a task. Then later on the recordings and screenshots can be evidence of what I did and what happened.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Tuesday January 31 2023, @08:20PM
Employers are still operating under "there are ten or mor applicants for every job, fuck the employee." They're too slow to realize, or hope that you are, that it's turned around since we boomers all retired.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 3, Informative) by corey on Tuesday January 31 2023, @08:38PM (1 child)
Certainly does lower productivity. On my corporate Windows laptop, they have a few security packages installed plus antivirus software by Sophos. It’s a 10th gen i7 with 32GB RAM and the fan in it runs pretty much constant all day every day. I’m often opening task manager and seeing what’s going on and it’s either an inventory scanner, virus scanner, windows modules installer, auditor running. It seems to scan every file open access and saving so there’sa delay in everything. It is pretty borked, it runs very slow most of the time for what it is and my home PC running Windows, which is a 2nd gen i5 overlocked, is significantly faster and snappier. Additionally, I can’t either install anything nor run any executable that’s in some white list. Thankfully I can still run Putty and Firefox but one day I tried to ask if I could run mupdf (because it’s infinitely faster to open and operate than Adobe Acrobat), but I had to fill out forms, get them signed by senior management and then wait for IT to get around to installing it or white listing it. Really is a joke. Think I’m going to go contractor and BYO hardware.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday January 31 2023, @09:49PM
I'm somewhat too passionate about machines, tools, etc., to deal with all of that. I'd have found another job long ago. They probably added all that stuff over time so you'd acclimate. Ugh. One of my great passions (and I'm not willing to undergo ECT to de-program my brain and remove it) is productivity and efficiency- mainly for myself. The rare times I've been in any kind of supervisory role I've never ever pressured anyone to work harder, faster, etc. I'm too busy doing my own thing to notice anyway.
I've had friends and coworkers who have a very good attitude about work- they just don't care about such things. They don't have the tools or parts or supplies or time or cleared path to get something done? Aaa, they're happy to sit and wait until management does their jobs. I wish I didn't care.
I'm curious- have you in any way documented, and/or communicated to IT and/or management about how you're being slowed down by all of the crapware on your company issued computer?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by richtopia on Tuesday January 31 2023, @12:12AM
I support industrial equipment (running Windows, so irrelevant). This sounds pretty handy for troubleshooting weird issues that are probably originating between the keyboard and chair.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Gaaark on Monday January 30 2023, @11:12PM
Same with Manjaro. :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---