[liberationtech] Here Come the Encryption Apps

[Maxim Kammerer]

On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 6:22 PM, Rich Kulawiec <rsk at gsp.org> wrote:
> Sixth, and let me encapsulate it as a principle:
>
>         If you need a GUI to overthrow your government...
>         you're probably not going to overthrow your government.
>
> That's harsh, condescending, snarky...but I think it's probably true.

Not really (and I disagree with nearly everything else you wrote).
Communication is a critical component (some say the most critical) of
any military operation, and there is no reason why it would be less
critical for e.g. a successful civil uprising. Cellphones today
provide the most viable mobile duplex communication channel for
civilians, and any third-world government will be most reluctant to
shut down cellphone communication, since it will cause major
disruptions for its own military, which heavily relies on using
cellphones instead of unreliable radios. Risks, including traffic
analysis, can be mitigated or simply accepted, and even government's
ability to shutdown the cellular network in case of force majeure is
not a given, if there is (like usual) some first-world country or
multinational extremist organization behind / supporting the
grassroots uprising that can supply the necessary equipment on the
ground. Your post is condescending for the wrong reasons — Twitter
drama queens cannot make a revolution with or without smartphones, but
it does not mean that smartphones, and their relevant applications,
are not the most suitable communication channel for people on the
ground who actually do things (good or bad).

-- 
Maxim Kammerer
Liberté Linux: http://dee.su/liberte