Re: [DDN] Microsoft: Open source 'not reliable or dependable'
I just had a 'Healthy Choice' 'Premium Fudge Bar' reading this. It tasted really good. Executive Director wrote: Taran, Do not try to obscure the issue of the vulnerabilities language you used. What you should say in a few words, rather than a lengthy treatise, is that you misspoke. I would say that, but I didn't. And since we're writing, you're not making much sense. And we can leave it at that. In my original message, I did not say Linux had less vulnerabilities than Windows. I simply stated that I wished Microsoft would fix Windows. Now, if you misread, that is your problem and you most certainly should leave it at that instead of resorting to these sorts of replies; if I were easily threatened and didn't know what I wrote I may simply crawl off wounded by your keen misreading of what was clearly written. However, what I wrote was clear. I am not threatened by the vast amount of knowledge you have at your disposal through search engines. You see, I have that capacity as well. But your initial search was flawed... you misread what I wrote, which I find amusing. Yes. I said it. I'm amused. Again, go back and read the original message, carefully. Now, if you want, you can tell me that you do not wish Microsoft to fix Windows. That would be a position that I would find amusing, but you are certainly entitled to your opinion, so I wouldn't try to misdirect the discussion so that I would look smarter than you. That would be too low for me. What I can do is proceed with my life as if nothing has happened. This is because nothing has happened. :-) I'm done with this thread. If you want to bash me, proceed with vigor. It's unhealthy to hold in aggression. Have some ice cream; I must recommend the 'Healthy Choice Premium Fudge Bar'. Quite tasty. I have to sleep early for a conference tomorrow, otherwise I would stick around and see how this ends up. Have fun! -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago [EMAIL PROTECTED] Looking for contracts/work! http://www.knowprose.com/node/9786 New!: http://www.OpenDepth.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/ Criticize by creating. — Michelangelo ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Microsoft: Open source 'not reliable or dependable'
The problem with government funded research, like all other research, is that I do not have access to the full research project and what exactly was studied. If you wish to challenge facts based on these studies (well, you call them misstatements instead of facts), then you must answer specific questions, or those facts are meaningless. I will give you an example...someone mentioned in one of the responses to this that Windows, as-is, comes with a certain set of applications. Similarly, Linux distributions come with a certain set of applications. Some have more than others. So, in these studies, which included applications did they consider? If I took every application available in the apt-get universe for Debian / Ubuntu and installed them all, I'd probably have a great deal more vulnerabilities there than on my XP box. On the other hand, installing MS Office or just Outlook significantly increases the number of security vulnerabilities a Windows machine has (so many of my critical updates concern members of the Office family). It may be argued (and often is) that Windows by itself is crippled. A fair comparison would be to look at what the Linux distros (and which distros are we talking about?) have included by default, and then install the commercially popular equivalents for Windows, so we're comparing apples to apples. Were these included in the research study you mentioned? Was the Windows machine in the study configured to turn off things like the sysadmin messenger service, or were these left on? Without knowing these things, the study is meaningless. Just as it is meaningless to give a Linux operating system a reliability or security score without mentioning which distro(s) were tested and how they were configured / which applications were installed. I'm not bashing Windows so much as pointing out that you should question your steadfast reliance on these studies. A government study undertaken by a pro-Microsoft organization, or even a non-biased organization that doesn't have a great deal of open source expertise, simply isn't going to produce reliable results. When statistical research is so easily skewed, and no original statistics or even use-cases are published, the studies are meaningless. We are left relying only on real-world experience, which you dismiss as anecdotal. To move this away from the Linux vs. Windows argument, I'll ask you another question: Is it or is it not true that most websites today are running on an open source platform (Apache)? If this is the case, then I will grant you that the desktop revolution may have been based on the Windows operating system and not on Unix if you will grant me that the entire internet as we know it came about as a result of open source software, not proprietary vendors. Dave. --- Dave A. Chakrabarti Projects Coordinator CTCNet Chicago [EMAIL PROTECTED] (708) 919 1026 --- Executive Director wrote: I guess that I will believe government funded research over anecdotal evidence, but that's just me. Believe whatever you like, but I have and will continue to challenge misstatements of facts, whenever or wherever. Bash Windows all you like, but the vision of a common interface of Windows, not Unix, is what has caused the PC revolution we all benefit from today. CERT's report did not include figures for how quickly vulnerabilities are patched once they are discovered. See my later email on the Forester research. Mike Michael F. Pitsch [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dave A. Chakrabarti Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 10:20 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Microsoft: Open source 'not reliable or dependable' Mike, I find this hard to believe, given how frequently Windows has to patch vulnerabilities. Last year their patches often resulted in computers being rendered unuseable. I had a client who could no longer access her Windows login screen, requiring an extensive support session at her home to fix. I assumed it was a virus, but found out later it was a Windows patch, automatically downloaded and installed (she had automatic updates turned on, as Microsoft recommends). I'm also under the impression that most of the websites in the world are currently hosted on open source platforms (Apache). These facts are also a simple Google away. If open source products truly appeared more secure only because so few people are using it on the desktop, then it would also appear incredibly insecure in the corporate server environment, where it actually makes up a more significant chunk of the market than Microsoft products. Websites would be constantly going down because of Apache vulnerabilities, and we'd all be running to Microsoft for salvation. Facts can be distorted in any direction. The media exists to sell a product (their writing) and will cater to
Re: [DDN] Microsoft: Open source 'not reliable or dependable'
I'm done with this thread. If you want to bash me, proceed with vigor. It's unhealthy to hold in aggression. Actually, if anyone wants to bash Taran or anyone else, take it off-list. I'm all for a vigorous debate about open source and proprietary software, but I won't allow it to be an excuse for flinging insults at each other. Play nice or play somewhere else. ac -- -- Andy Carvin acarvin (at) edc . org andycarvin (at) yahoo . com http://www.andycarvin.com http://www.digitaldivide.net http://www.pbs.org/learningnow -- ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Microsoft: Open source 'not reliable or dependable'
I've been lurking this listserver for ages, and have not only appreciated those who spend so much of their time helping others, but appreciated the patience and kindness that I associate with the people here. A little sad and surprised to see this type of thing. Get back to what you all do best...*smile* This might lighten the mood: http://www.care2.com/ecards/p/8020-3532-10346-2209 Marianne Anderson, Med Instructor - ELC Educational Technology Specialist College of Arts Sciences Zayed University DubaiU.A.E. In the future all teachers will be IT Specialists. [EMAIL PROTECTED] 24/05/2006 4:33 pm I'm done with this thread. If you want to bash me, proceed with vigor. It's unhealthy to hold in aggression. Actually, if anyone wants to bash Taran or anyone else, take it off-list. I'm all for a vigorous debate about open source and proprietary software, but I won't allow it to be an excuse for flinging insults at each other. Play nice or play somewhere else. ac -- -- Andy Carvin acarvin (at) edc . org andycarvin (at) yahoo . com http://www.andycarvin.com http://www.digitaldivide.net http://www.pbs.org/learningnow -- ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 X-GWTYPE:USER FN:Marianne Anderson TEL;WORK:2082(106) ORG:;Arts Sciences - English Language Center EMAIL;WORK;PREF;NGW:[EMAIL PROTECTED] N:Anderson;Marianne END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 X-GWTYPE:USER FN:Marianne Anderson TEL;WORK:2082(106) ORG:;Arts Sciences - English Language Center EMAIL;WORK;PREF;NGW:[EMAIL PROTECTED] N:Anderson;Marianne END:VCARD ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] One Laptop Per Child - possible functional prototype photos
Slashdot is pointing to photos of a seemingly functional One Laptop Per Child prototype (the $100 MIT laptop) seen by Pete Barr-Watson at the Seven Countries Task Force Meeting. The OLPC machine looks to run a version of Fedora Linux with native wireless LAN support. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pete/sets/72057594143224765/ Studying the images, of the four different models (green, blue, 2 orange), only one of the orange machines looks to be functional - it's screen doesn't seem any different than a standard laptop screen - it's UI looks just as unintuitive as a normal UI - it might require an external mouse - it has a standard power cord attached - not hand crank or pedal power Wayan Wayan Vota Director - Geekcorps Division http://www.geekcorps.org 202.589.2624 - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype/Yahoo IM: wayan_vota International Executive Service Corps (IESC) 901 15th Street NW, Suite 1010 Washington DC, 20005 202.326.0280 - http://www.iesc.org The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. Access to this email by anyone other than the intended addressee is unauthorized. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] video from a day of out(r)age protest in Boston
Hi everyone, This afternoon I shot some video at today's Day of Out(r)age protest at the Massachusetts State House, where community media and digital divide activists gathered to protest the telecom legislation that's currently working its way through Congress. The video includes commentary from Ada Robinson of Boston Neighborhood Producers Group and Mauro DePasquale of WCCATV. http://www.andycarvin.com permalink: http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2006/05/a_day_of_outrage.html More videos are going to be posted to blip.tv here: http://blip.tv/posts/?topic_name=dayofoutrage thanks, andy -- -- Andy Carvin acarvin (at) edc . org andycarvin (at) yahoo . com http://www.andycarvin.com http://www.digitaldivide.net http://www.pbs.org/learningnow -- ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
