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ParanoidLinux now under development

Ian sends word of the ParanoidLinux project, inspired by the Linux distro used by the freedom fighters in my novel, Little Brother:

Paranoid Linux is an operating system that assumes that its operator is under assault from the government (it was intended for use by Chinese and Syrian dissidents), and it does everything it can to keep your communications and documents a secret. It even throws up a bunch of "chaff" communications that are supposed to disguise the fact that you're doing anything covert. So while you're receiving a political message one character at a time, ParanoidLinux is pretending to surf the Web and fill in questionnaires and flirt in chat-rooms. Meanwhile, one in every five hundred characters you receive is your real message, a needle buried in a huge haystack.
~Cory Doctorow (Little Brother, 2008)

When those words were written, ParanoidLinux was just a fiction. It is our goal to make this a reality. The project officially started on May 14th, and has been growing ever since. We welcome your ideas, contributions, designs, or code. You can find us on freenode's irc server in the #paranoidlinux channel. Hope to see you there!

Link

(Thanks, Ian!)

7 Responses to “ParanoidLinux now under development”

1. JDawson says:

   February 8, 2010 at 8:31 pm

   I got this book for my birthday (2 days ago) after reading down an out in the magic kingdom
   I really like it but what happened to the paranoid Linux? I would really like to have it :D
2. Rybka says:

   April 20, 2011 at 5:06 pm

   i really hope paranoid linux does become a real distro
3. Someone Over 25 says:

   September 12, 2011 at 2:15 pm

   I started reading Little Brother yesterday and I'm already halfway through. The world is so real and plausible that I got here via a Google search for Paranoid Linux because I wanted to download and install it. I'm pretty glad to hear that this portion of the book is becoming a reality!
4. JH says:

   September 28, 2011 at 10:27 am

   Actually, this part of the book is not going to be reality yet. The project shut down.
5. ParanoidLoser says:

   October 11, 2011 at 7:19 pm

   Awesome. Just started reading this book yesterday!! glad to see someone is making this a reality!!
6. Pissedoffparanoid says:

   November 29, 2011 at 6:36 am

   i read this about a year ago (favorite book since then :P) and i find it funny that today (nov 29th 2011) there will be a meeting of senators, this meeting is the Final deliberation of the bill on multiple internet laws (rights to track users at all times, censor ALL websites involving copyrighted materials for free, etc.).
   before, i enjoyed your book because it was just a good book (which is allot from me considering i rarely read books for fun) but now the book seems almost like a prediction.

   i know this is most likely spam so im sorry but : to all of you who Don't want this f&cked up world to become a reality: http://americancensorship.org/

   and remember, if this bill passes, senate will have the power to censor everything you know and love. fight for what you where promised as a citizen of the U.S.A. !
7. Ra5cal says:

   March 8, 2012 at 5:00 am

   The people of Syria really need this now; and whomever is next

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