logoalt Hacker News

Tharrelast Friday at 7:42 PM1 replyview on HN

First of all, this is incorrect, the checking would have to happen _before_ even building the package since malware is already being executed at that point.

But more importantly this is a terrible idea in regards to privacy/infosec. I do not want packages I build and install myself to be uploaded to a 3rd party website.

And for what benefit? 99% of new malware won't be detected anyway, and once it is known it is way more effective to just remove the offending package from the AUR.


Replies

jchoksilast Friday at 7:55 PM

> malware is already being executed at that point

To ensure reproducible / clean builds, I thought makepkg would always be run in a sandbox/chroot environment. The damage done would be localised to that sandbox.

> this is a terrible idea in regards to privacy/infosec.

Ok. Devs could setup an option to pacman -U which allows it to bypass VT for privacy sensitive people. This just puts the onus on you to not ensure you aren't installing malware. The default Arch user should still be protected while allowing for your privacy needs.

> 99% of new malware won't be detected anyway, and once it is known it is way more effective to just remove the offending package from the AUR

Its too late then. People are already affected.

show 3 replies