Would you prove to us, that the update was "obnoxious"?
No-one feels the need to prove anything about the code to you. Because there's no centralized control, you're free to use an obnoxious update if you like.
Of course not everyone can read source code. But some people can, and some people do. The choice to run or not run the code is up to you, and no-one will be trying to "prove" to you why you must or must not run it.
Yes! That is what I am trying to say! Agreed with you!
No-one will be trying to "prove" to you or me why you (or me) must or must not run it.
And we will just continue to use it. That is an easiest way to intervene the project - just subtly intervene the code, so noone notices.
1. Hijack the hosting, that distibutes the binaries, and you will affect the majority of users, that do not compile by themselves.
2. Hijack the developers' workplaces, and you will get the ability to subtly affect the source code.
3. Hijack the source control system, and you will control the source and the binaries.
And don't think, that the "evil
powers" will be forced to do that via Internet access only.
Whenever the government comes to play, or the hugest businesses, then physically hijacking the servers is the cheapest attack on the Bitcoin.
Bitcoin as a payment system suffers from the threats to Bitcoin as a software project.
They are the common threats, not Bitcoin-specific, I think they are obvious to every opensource programmer.
Yes, there are some countermeasures to protect Bitcoin as a payment system from such attacks, like developing a standard first, not a software. But AFAIK they are not deployed NOW, standard may change, and users cannot affect to veto the changes, unless they coordinate, which is, well, unlikely without a sound reason.
That's all I can say.
