I remember that time very well, and not in a good way. We were all running dubious janky obfuscated software without giving it a second thought. These days trust is not enough, you need at least some way to verify (but also a lot more). Plenty of trusted software has been sold, hijacked, or otherwise has turned on its users over the decades.

To be frank we're still running dubious and janky software, but at least it tends to be a bit more transparent.

I understand. Different people have different thresholds for trust. Unfortunately, I have lived in DC for a long time. Long enough to know the basics of how espionage works. And, appealing to authority is very effective. Humans love authorities. Write a few papers. Give a few conference talks. Get a few magazines to report on your expertise. That's pretty much all it takes to get entry. Otto and Olaf are probably great guys. I'm just extra cautious.