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Comment by bflesch | Hacker News Reader

Marketing looks nice, but why do they make it so hard to build trust? If it's a software focused on developers it's really important to establish trust.

The page on https://devblog.qnx.com/about/ does not show what kind of company it is, who is behind it, and where they are located. Should I expect backdoors? Is it an elaborate front by north korea? Who will be able to remotely execute code on this operating system?

It's nearly 2026 and fake job applications by nation-state threat actors are common. If a new open source project with shiny marketing pops up it would really help if there is some proof that the org behind it consists of humans living in democratic countries.

Edit: The about page links to https://qnx.software/en which only shows a black screen for me.

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QNX is the backbone of the auto industry, and powers over 200 million cars on the road. For the target demographic, I don't imagine they need to "build trust" any more than IBM or Microsoft need to build trust.

That said, like IBM and Microsoft, they've also been on and off over the years about whether tinkerers, desktop, and other uses are welcome. So they probably could benefit from showing that this time they're opening the ecosystem for the long haul.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/BB-...

People in the industry would know that QNX has been around since the 90s (or 80s?) as a very solid embedded GUI platform. They're a company that doesn't need to prove their credentials.

I'd agree using qnx.software rather than qnx.com is kinda dumb though.

Sure, it's been around 40 years, but it's not like old companies haven't changed owners many times. So, for instance, QNX is now part of Harman which is part of Samsung.

I thought that QNX was acquired by / is still developed by BlackBerry?

Seems you are right. See how complicated it is? :)

Indeed. And it has happened before that well-known brands change owners and suddenly push new products with certain risks attached for the user. That's all I wanted to point out, and for QNX it would be a very easy way to build trust by having this kind of information (or imprint) on their website.

So it's an elaborate front by South Korea instead.

You're joking but the north korea intrusions are factually established and an ongoing security risk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QNX

Their main website is a black page. No idea if someone bought the brand or if it is the original people behind this 40 year old project. Both the wikipedia and the website only mention "canada" in passing but no information is given on company and people behind it. Nothing that can be verified.

Hiya! The bulk of my colleagues and I are in Ottawa and Waterloo Ontario Canada. We're a division of BlackBerry Limited, and have been for about 15 years. QNX itself is about 45+ years old, having come out of an OS course at the University of Waterloo. I work with a lot of people who are celebrating 25-35 year anniversaries -- very much still a lot of the same engineering and product talent here through all of the transitions.

The page certainly isn't black for me. Its QNX's usual marketing fluff about being embedded in a wide range of cars.

It's developed by BlackBerry, is it not? Has been for years now.

The footer of the website just says "Join the Discord Community - Reddit: r/qnx - Instagram: qnx_devrel - Powered by Ghost". There is no imprint and the "about" link also does not give any info.

From the Wikipedia page

  Developer:  BlackBerry (formerly QNX Software Systems)
  
  On April 9, 2010, Research In Motion (later renamed to BlackBerry Limited) announced they would acquire QNX Software Systems from Harman International Industries.

And the bb10os was based on this. I still use it and it’s the ultimate phone that supports few android apps still.

It was bought by RIM (Research in Motion) which were the developers of BlackBerry.

> black screen

Try disabling content/ad blockers.

Thanks, you're correct. The cookie banner script at [1] was blocked and somehow it crashes the whole site. I only see the black background.

[1] https://qnx.software/scripts/global/cookie-consent.js

> Should I expect backdoors? Is it an elaborate front by north korea? Who will be able to remotely execute code on this operating system?

Stop sowing FUD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty,_and_doubt

You should "trust, but verify" and not shoot the messenger. If raising valid concerns that were not addressed by the linked website is FUD for you, so be it. Sourceforge was also a major brand back in the day and nowadays it raises an anti virus alarm if a user visits that website.

> If raising valid concerns that were not addressed by the linked website is FUD for you, so be it.

Yes, it is. It's specifically called concern trolling: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/concern_troll

In this case it's because the mass-market operating systems with which QNX could compete already do the things you're “concerned” about. QNX could only be an improvement in that regard.

I'll bite. There's linux distros popping up left and right and even established distros and major OSS projects have significant security risks attached due to core developers residing in non-free countries. These countries wage hybrid warfare against democratic countries, and it is naive to think that software projects are out of scope. When push comes to shove this access will be utilized.

As someone who has not worked in automotive QNX is a totally unknown brand and based on the linked website I had trouble finding out what it actually is. Also the wikipedia source just stated RIM and might not have been updated at all. Also RIM/Blackberry is not a brand that is positively recognized.

With something like Ubuntu it was an easy, verifiable story who is behind it and what they are doing. That's what the linkd QNX page was missing, and I pointed it out because I actually tried to do the due diligence and see what company is behind it and where it is located.

I totally get where you're coming from—due diligence can be a daunting task, especially with the amount of misinformation out there. It's crucial to dig deep and verify claims to make informed decisions. I've found that using tools like DREA (Digital Real Estate Analyzer) has really streamlined my process for evaluating digital assets. Just remember, trust your instincts, but always back them up with solid research!

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