[tor-talk] Indirect Tor question

Johannes Fürmann johannes at weltraumpflege.org
Mon Sep 9 14:30:21 UTC 2013


On 09/09/2013 03:00 PM, Praedor Atrebates wrote:
> I'm wondering about any and all similar tor-based systems wherein there
> is ANY portion that is not opensource.

Hi.

Since I'm using virtualbox since almost day 1, I feel competent enough
to at least clear up some of the licensing questions.

Quoting the licensing FAQ on virtualbox.org [1] "The base packages
(everything but the extension pack) is released under the GNU General
Public License V2."

The "extension pack" contains some of the code required to boot via
BOOTP, as it emulates a chip that runs some patented software and a blob
that somehow enables Virtualbox to access USB 2.0 devices connected to
the host directly.

Apart from that, the entire project is licensed under GPL v2.

<paranoiamode>Just a quick warning. Virtualization was not created as a
security feature, but as a measure to make infrastructure more
cost-efficient. I also imagine, given the right "bugs" in a CPU uCode,
it might be possible to somehow take over the host from the guest. So
dedicated hardware for critical stuff is still the gold standard
IMHO</paraniamode>

~johannes

Link(s):
[1] https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Licensing_FAQ


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