I had this plan, but somebody recently ruined that by explaining the life of a farmer is also filled with software, copyrights (on software/firmwares etc), DRM etc etc

Farmer life isn't very much different from a it techy in a 'technology disappointing' kind of way.

Oh and the copywrite on seeds. Which even if the GMO "patented" Monsanto seeds blow onto your property and grow; can still cause problems for you

What is obvious to us, isn't obvious to everyone else.

But we might still be outraged and boycott their products, all right?

Isn't this exactly what CIA\NSA would want?

Nothing is stopping you but that's like saying you want to boycott Monsanto products because of the latest misdeed to make the rounds in the news. You should have assumed Kaspersky was working with Russian intelligence before buying just like you should have assumed Monsanto was evil before buying.

Kapersky is one of Russia's top cybersecurity research institutions by default because of the products they sell and the stuff they need to do to make those products. Cooperation with Russian intelligence isn't really optional for them. If they didn't want to cooperate they'd either be infiltrated making it a non-issue or they'd be "convinced".

This is no different than Russia not wanting to use Win10 because they assume that the NSA put in feature requests (or created the features themselves without telling anyone at MSFT).

> Cooperation with Russian intelligence isn't really optional for them.

But that does in no way make it allright - from a consumer perspective. Am I missing something?

Sure. But at the same time it would be foolish to assume that Symantec doesn't work with the US security agencies or Sophos doesn't work with British agencies.

In the worst case scenario, if the government wanted them to, they would have to hand over anything they work on to continue operating.

This was my takeaway. My understanding of the top comment in the chain wasn't that we shouldn't be offended. Just that we shouldn't be surprised. It would be like being surprised that Boeing takes orders from the U.S. government sometimes.

> Sure. But at the same time it would be foolish to assume that Symantec doesn't work with the US security agencies or Sophos doesn't work with British agencies.

But that's not what I said at all. I also condemn all of these agency ties, no matter the country affected.

I think what is confusing you is people are ignoring the point about non-technical consumers and simply using this thread as an opportunity to fluff their crypto-geopolitical feathers and look cool through the use of hyperbole and other techniques.

Yes, you have a point. From a consumer's perspective, who may be using their software without realizing it is Russian or has direct ties to Russian state, there should be education and discussion of this fact. Good thing Bloomberg has a broader audience than HN.