On 9/5/25 2:37 AM, Adam Tazul wrote:
According to [0] and [1], less than two billion people speak English. According to [2], we already have more than 8.2 billion people on Earth. Granted, less than 70% of these actually have access to the internet [3], and only 3.93% of those on a desktop/laptop are using some form of Linux[4], but I think it's a question worth asking regardless.
There is a reason all Air-Traffic Control in every country around the world must use English. There must be one common language to prevent planes from crashing into each other. The same applies to software security. The people responsible for validating packages are not nefarious, must be able to understand the source and purpose. I'm all for making things available in all languages, but the premise in the post above misses the salient point. What percent of those charged with ensuring packages don't pose security concerns speak English (as at least one language they speak)? There has to be a clear separation between (1) making information available in other languages, a good thing, and (2) compromising security by having packages slip through that no one understands, a very, very bad thing. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.