- cross-posted to:
- privacy@programming.dev
- cross-posted to:
- privacy@programming.dev
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45061709
There are at least a dozen people spending at least several hours attacking GrapheneOS across platforms on a daily basis. It’s a very strange situation. How do these people have so much time and dedication to keep making posts across platforms attacking us? It’s relentless.
Every day, dozens of new accounts join our chat rooms to spread the same fabrications about GrapheneOS including via direct messages.
On Hacker News, one of the accounts making personal attacks based on fabrications in most threads about GrapheneOS has been doing it for 8 years.
Y Combinator has a financial stake in numerous surveillance and exploit development companies. Hacker News is a platform they own and the moderators on it have permitted years of vile harassment towards our team which they’d normally remove if others were targeted.
Hacker News mods micromanage it enough to repeatedly ask us not to reuse a bit of text across our comments. Meanwhile, they do nothing about disgusting personal attacks and harassment content consistently being spread in threads about GrapheneOS on their heavily moderated site.
The largest privacy community on Reddit /r/privacy bans any discussion or mentions of GrapheneOS. A bot automatically removes any post mentioning GrapheneOS they’ll very actively ban people who evade their filters. The mods of the subreddit misrepresent this as something we want.
Many privacy subreddits have mods who are hostile towards GrapheneOS. We were banned from posting on /r/Android for multiple years. The mod who banned us said our official project account on Reddit was ban evading because they once unjustifiably banned one of our team members.
On Wikipedia, a company attacking GrapheneOS project made years of edits to the site pushing false narratives about us. They cited articles based on their own press releases. Other content was made paraphrasing Wikipedia which ended up being cited by it. It continues to this day.
Articles about GrapheneOS on most platforms often have comments engaging in baseless personal attacks towards our team, linking to harassment content and making many clearly inaccurate claims about it. We’ve found chat rooms coordinating this including attacks on the X platform.
Privacy projects are more vulnerable to these attacks because the userbase and supporters largely avoid social media and other platforms where it happens. Many people believe what they read on social media if it isn’t countered and it builds echo chambers hostile to GrapheneOS.
Many people think these must be state sponsored attacks. However, our experience is these attacks are primarily orchestrated by companies selling dubious products marketed as private and secure. We did get targeted by state sponsored smear campaigns in France and Spain though.
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These “phony companies” could in turn be operated by state actors: as there have been physical product launches in the past, which turned out to be honey pots. Perhaps state actors, can no longer convince privacy enthusiasts (unfortunately including criminals), to fall for their honey pots, and shift efforts to tarnishing reputation instead.
Mentioning GrapheneOS is banned on r/privacy! Makes perfect sense.
r/privacy is generally terrible from my experience.
Lmao that’s amazing, great insurance against getting banned! Smart!!
@mistermodal wow, it’s so important to call out bad actors and protect real projects like this.
I love it how they don’t provide any proof at all /s, just: “Trust us bro”
I mean you could just go take a look at their other posts? It’s one statement about it. Maybe I could add hyperlinks to everything if I suddenly care more about that than making people mad in a kinda interesting way today. It’s unpredictable. Phone’s only fun at work. At home it becomes the bad screen.
I’ve read almost every drama-related post from the official GrapheneOS account since I researched this whole thing.
And they almost NEVER provide sources. The only exceptions I can think of right now were the cases with Rob Braxman and the French newsletter. That’s the only time they actually provided a source.
Well if that is the case it would be worthwhile to document it here tbqh, it may be easy for people in the forums to keep track but ppl do have jobs
Removed by mod
LineageOS is chill IDK why you think having extreme device security doesn’t matter to people, in many corporate settings it’s worthwhile. Probably undermined by Google anyways, but that can never be admitted in COURT. I run LineageOS on a Pixel with a bunch of shit changed for privacy, used to have GOS, the Pixel was the best option on Swappa! I take a lotta pics 👀. I find the GOS forums a useful resource and I hate everyone they hate so it works out dawg. Yeah, structurally bound to Google and the US chip infrastructure is bad. Get Chinese shit. I just need my FDroid shit to live, that’s what really binds me to Google’s ecosystem.
Don’t forget to mention GrapheneOS gets to keep all their fingers and ears because the feds use their stuff. Think they can’t get into a Google device? I just don’t believe it. Peace indeed
I do use a (modded) version of graphene as a daily driver and I do appreciate many of the features that it offer.
And I totally agree that some people seem to try to turn graphene into some rigid cult (especially on the philosophy of running root and “who decides how application backup should be made? The application developer or the device/data owner”)
That said:
the idea that the only way I can not get assraped on the reg is to give a shitload of money to google and then use this elitist OS is something I have a gigantic problem with.
There is actually a technical reason for this. Pixel phones are the only ones to support custom AvB keys.
Basically, this allows you (or graphene) to create a key, which can be used to sign your custom firmware. So, you can have a locked bootloader that will only allow OS updates signed with your key.
You can basically create your own OTA updates. It’s fantastic.
It’s amazing and disappointing that most phone manufacturers don’t allow custom AvB keys, but it’s a reflection of how they truly don’t care about people who like to tinker.
Now, should the lack of custom AvB keys be a barrier towards using graphene? Tbh, I don’t think so - but it does fit the graphene rigid MO of “root is bad”.
edit : fixed link
There is actually a technical reason for this. Pixel phones are the only ones to support custom AvB keys.
that’s not true. Fairphones and certain Motorolas have supported that for years. check the calyxos device support page. all of them supports it.
Grapheneos is like voting democrat except the cops won’t be able to get into your phone
I love how strcat never posts any links to these things and just goes on these multi post rants.
I see it as a good thing because he makes a very paranoid android.
These posts do more to make me not want to use GrapheneOS than any other person or entity. This has got to be a psyop. I refuse to believe any one can possibly be this much of a bitch.
Make your OS and rest on its merits instead of crying about it 🤷♂️
Daniel strcat the top dev is unfortunately super paranoid. He really thinks everyone is out to get him and he goes on long crusades on the net that drag on and on and that’s why he gets banned. People just get tired of it. There’s long videos of all his persecution claims being debunked.
Last year he took a step back when it got too much but he seems to be back in full swing lately. He’s a good developer and technically very strong but he really needs to chill. Even his strongest supporters like Louis Rossman had to drop him.
I think what caused it was his partner swindling him during the time of CopperheadOS but really this is not cool.
Having said that, grapheneos is the strongest on security and privacy by far. It’s just sad to see all the unnecessary drama around it and yes it does put people off.
Don’t you want someone who is paranoid making a security focused OS?
If he kept his thoughts as private as his operating system, he’d be set. The paranoia might help development of a tool like this but all the drama is a bit off putting, yes.
I’m putting that first sentence in my back pocket lol
Even his strongest supporters like Louis Rossman had to drop him.
Citation?
Strcat has some intense paranoia which is exactly what you want in a security focused Android phone os. I’m ok with him ranting about whatever he wants as long as it motivates him to keep making the only android that Israel can’t get into.
