Opening Bitcoin donations for Qubes Project

[Joanna Rutkowska]

Ok, ok, so here it is -- Bitcoin donations for Qubes :)

http://wiki.qubes-os.org/trac/wiki/Donations

Let's see how much this is worth at all...

For security reasons, let me repeat the bitcoin address here in this
message:

14zockMSKKp5MK6X2cHJ3mQwm9MwYsJ39j

This message should be accessible via Google Groups Web interface over
HTTPS for double verification. Hm, perhaps it is finally a good reason
for us to buy some SSL cert for the wiki...?

This message is also signed by my PGP key that can be found in many
places on the Web.

Cheers,
joanna.

[Juergen Schinker]

it's about time!

[Daniel Cross]

I will have to find my wallet :)

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[coderman]

On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 8:32 AM, Joanna Rutkowska
<joa...@invisiblethingslab.com> wrote:
> ...
> http://wiki.qubes-os.org/trac/wiki/Donations
> ... 14zockMSKKp5MK6X2cHJ3mQwm9MwYsJ39j


you link to blockexplorer on the page,
though i do prefer blockchain's interface:
https://blockchain.info/fb/14zock

(adjust currency based on latest market avg at bottom of any info page...)


regarding the offer "I have donated X number of bitcoins, can I
request a special feature to be implemented?" instead of restricting
to single large donations, consider a handful of possible features ITL
would develop. list them each with a donation address. if you want
feature X delivered before feature Y, pay the coins to prioritize with
a few or a horde, crowd sourced style.

sort of like btcdice odds by address, but betting on features instead
;P


... i suppose this is all a moot point while the donation balance is
in fractions of BTC. ah well,


best regards,

[Lucian p]

I've been waiting for this. I'll donate to keep this project going.

[Andrew B]

Thank you for finally opening up Bitcoin donations.  Qubes is already quite good, and I'm happy to chip in something to help fund the development, even if it's only enough for ~1 man/woman-hour or so. I'll donate as soon as I can.

I'd like to use this opportunity to do exactly what you said not to: a feature request :).  One of my main problems with Qubes in its current state is how it handles device attachments.  Right now, the Qubes VM Manager handles device attachment in a 'VM-centric' way: I have to look at each VM's attached devices to find the one which has a specific device.  But what I find is that I really need a 'device-centric' manager: I want to see each device in a list (preferably with an editable label, so I can name my USB controllers 'rear left', 'front right', etc., at least until proper USB VM support is added) with its attached VM.  I should be able to detach a device from its current VM, switch it to a different VM, etc.  This would simplify my life quite a bit, and I don't think it would be too hard.  In principle I would be fine to make these changes myself, but I just do not have the time, especially within the next month or so.

For me, the next step would be device-triggered VM attachments, though I imagine this would be a bit more difficult.  I envision this working as follows: I plug in my smart card reader, some Dom0 daemon sees the device attachment, finds the reader USB VID/PID in my specified map file, attaches the corresponding USB controller to the map file's specified VM, then starts that VM.  That would be really neat, even if it assumes all devices (or is only restricted to one device) on a controller map to the same VM.

And for what it's worth, my next most desired feature request is split GPG. I would rather see this feature even without your 'true' split idea, where no untrusted external input (public keys) must be imported into the GPG VM--that's nice and important in theory, but honestly (IMO) not as important in practice.

Thanks for all the good work!
 

[Индарил Шприц]

I would like something like a "feature auction". All planned features of the product should be listed, anyone should be able to add features and to vote for choosen feature by transferring bitcoins. Top voted features should be implemented.

[Axon]

I can understand why you find this idea appealing, but consider the
drawbacks of implementing this kind of system in a *security-focused* OS
project:

The vast majority of donors have much less security and technical
expertise than the Qubes team. Therefore, well-intentioned donors who
vote for certain features may be unwittingly working against their own
interests simply because they do not realize the security implications
of some feature they *think* they want. Likewise, they may be
unwittingly working against their own interests in "down-voting"
(de-prioritizing by not directing donations toward) some feature which
they think they don't care about but which would actually be much more
important to improving their security.

This system would effectively shift the direction of the Qubes project
from the team's judgement to the voters' judgement. In other words,
instead of the decisions being made by the Qubes team, the decisions
would be made by those who donate the most.

***

This FAQ entry (from http://qubes-os.org/trac/wiki/Donations) is also
relevant:

Q: I have donated X number of bitcoins, can I request a special feature
to be implemented?

A: The simple answer is: no. If everybody was to decide, then we would
get nothing implemented. However, if you make a substantial donation
(e.g. such that you believe could be used to pay for several months of
work of a developer), then please contact us in person or via the
mailing list. You can attach a digitally signed message using the
bitcoin address you used for donation in order to proof that you indeed
made the specific donation. In that case we will listen carefully, and,
in the worst case, explain to you why we can't or don't want to
implement your requested feature.

[Axon]

OTOH, you might say, "Fine, then let's only do this for *optional*
features, not for core/security-critical features, which we leave up to
the Qubes team." OK, but this might still create a conflict, wherein
some users who have donated (perhaps a lot) to the "winning" feature
think that the Qubes team now has an obligation to implement it in a
timely manner. This could detract from their efforts toward
core/security-critical features (and hence create the above conflict
where donors unwittingly protest against their own ultimate best
interest). (Or maybe the Qubes team realizes that this is happening and
ignores the winning optional features in order to focus on the important
core/security-critical work, which makes the donors really unhappy
because they were told that the top voted features would be
implemented.) I suppose that the problem is a general one: The system
effectively attaches _strings_ to the donations.

[cprise]

"Bitcoin is another tool that can be used to empower an individual against the system."

This would not be true in the long run, according to what I've read about Bitcoin and the way it handles transactions. IIRC, establishments that shift their large computing resources over to Bitcoin (i.e. they buy into the Bitcoin system) would be able to coordinate manipulations of the currency. Heavy Wall Street investment in Bitcoin could give those banks, who are experts in high-performance computing, the lions' share of resources within the currency, allowing them to control it.

The protection Bitcoin offers is only provisional... it works for the time being because it hasn't become a big enough target.

[evado...@gmail.com]

bump

[Axon]

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Hash: SHA512

evado...@gmail.com:
> bump
>

Bitcoin donations are still being accepted, but the new address is here:

https://www.qubes-os.org/donate/#bitcoin

(Did I correctly interpret the intention of the "bump"? :)
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[evado...@gmail.com]

> Bitcoin donations are still being accepted, but the new address is here:
>
> https://www.qubes-os.org/donate/#bitcoin
>
> (Did I correctly interpret the intention of the "bump"? :)

You are about url to verify wallet :) The wallet id is still old.

Bump was made to keep the thread at the top and maybe somebody will donate.
Development is expensive. Maybe somebody will see the thread and support development with money. :-)

[raah...@gmail.com]

nothing for paypal? I don't even know what bitcoin is. :)

[raah...@gmail.com]

can I mail a check?

[Axon]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

raah...@gmail.com:

Not at the moment, but we're currently working on providing additional
ways to donate:

https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/1434
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[evado...@gmail.com]

Looks at some third-party services that can process cards etc. and then send wire or bitcoints.