Can I trust downloading Python?

[Charles Hottel]

"Steven D'Aprano" <steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote in message 
news:522c6e4e$0$29988$c3e8da3$5496439d at news.astraweb.com...
> On Sat, 07 Sep 2013 21:04:59 -0600, Michael Torrie wrote:
>
>> As for trusting python in general, I do trust the python developers, but
>> recent NSA revelations call just about all aspects of computing, trust,
>> and privacy into doubt.
>
> "Recent" revelations? Where have you been for the last, oh, 20 odd years?
>
> Remember when people who talked about Carnivore and Echelon were
> considered in tin-foil hat territory? I do.
>
> I think it was Paul Krugman who talks about the one thing worse than
> being wrong is being right too soon. In context, he's referring to the
> Bush administration's adventures in Iraq, and how those who were right a
> decade ago are still routinely ignored even after being proven right,
> while the Very Serious People who were utterly, obviously wrong are still
> feted as experts. The same applies to the surveillance society. This
> didn't just appear overnight. You don't build programmes the size and
> complexity of PRISM, Tempora, Stellawind, X-Keyscore, Dropmire, and no
> doubt others that we still don't know about, overnight.
>
> When it comes to NSA spying, before Edward Snowden, there were these
> other guys:
>
> http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/16/snowden-whistleblower-nsa-officials-roundtable/2428809/
>
>
> And if you think it's just the NSA, you *really* haven't been paying
> attention. From 2005:
>
> http://www.noplacetohide.net/
>
>
>
> -- 
> Steven

I think this article is relevant althought the code examples are not Python 
but C:

http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html