On Mon, 30 Jul 2001 03:38:46 -0400 (EDT), Thomas Mueller wrote:
> As for these idiots that are always sending out email
> viruses, the authorities should start slapping some fines on
> them. That ought to put a stop to it.
> (end of quote)
> What about prosecuting those idiots who put out email/news software that opens
> and runs attachments in the default settings? It's too much to expect a dumb
> Windows user to patch a system full of security holes, especially when he or she
> is not warned beforehand by the vendor.
I agree wholeheartedly, and I have recently posted similar opinions on
the matter. They ought to sue MicroSoft and other developers of very
bad software under the laws pertaining to product defect and product
safety issues. You can easily successfully sue manufacturers of
other kinds of consumer goods for failure to paste appropriate warning
decals all over their products. Take my chain saw for example. Any
dummy ought to be able to take a single look at it to instantly
recognize that it is very dangerous to operate if you don't know what
you are doing. Even though the dangers are quite obvious, the chain
saw manufacturer has to paste the warning decals on his product for
the benefit of all the idiots who mistakenly think that chain saws are
so well designed with so many built-in safety features that there
couldn't possibly be any way of operating them unsafely. In taking a
look at a software package there is no way that even a highly
intelligent person would know that it is dangerous unless there were
warning labels pasted all over it. Software manufacturers ought to be
required to paste prominent warning labels on their products just like
the manufacturers of other kinds of products that could be operated in
an unsafe manner. Software companies ought to be forced to meet
reasonable safety standards just like the manufacturers of other
kinds of consumer goods.
BTW, I have noticed that most DOS software packages tend to be much
better than most Windows software when it comes to issuing warnings
concerning the advantages/disadvantages and possible bad consequences
of selecting this or that option instead of the default. With most
DOS software the default is almost always the safest. Not so with
Windows software.
Sam Heywood
-- This mail was written by user of The Arachne Browser - http://arachne.cz/
