Mike, I really wanted to bow out of this over-discussed thread but I felt compelled to comment.
>Subject: RE: Outlook blocked access to the following potentially unsafe >From: "Mike Carlson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 17:45:21 -0600 > >No reason to blame MS for stupid people that open every >"clickmetof*ckupyourcomputer.exe" they get in an email. > >When are people going to take responsibility for stupid stuff they do >and their own incompetence. Hello? Mike are you there? (Apologizes for the sarcasm...but...) For the last time (I HOPE), it's not about clicking on .exe files!! It never has been about click on .exe files!! It's always been about scripting files that execute simply by having a preview pane open or masquerading as a benign graphics file or a seemingly innocent MS Word document or MS Excel spreadsheet or... just about anything else Microsoft has had their hands in. Why is this so difficult to understand? Sure, you may want to add that is what anti-virus software is for... but I say MS should just listen to their customers and figg'n remove the potentially damaging 'features' of their scripting language. Sure, you may want to add that all a user must do is disable the vb scripting components of their OS? Really now, so AGAIN, instead of fixing the problem, let's just remove it entirely? What about the many situations where basic scripting is required? Why isn't Sun's JAVA dangerous? Oh, what's the other common excuse I read.... That MS products are so much more popular (ubiquitous?), that is why there are so many vulnerabilities? What utter nonsense! Microsoft products have so many vulnerabilities because their products have so many more vulnerabilities than other products! Have you forgotten that there are most Apache servers than IIS installations and more Novell Servers than Microsoft Servers. Why are these facts so difficult to understand? Do I hate Microsoft like some of you have erroneously assumed? Of course not! For the most part Microsoft was very successful in making computers available to the masses and making them easy to use. In addition, from my point of view, Microsoft provides some of the best/friendliest support in the business. Comparatively speaking, Novell could learn much from Microsoft; those %^#!@$% are clueless when it comes to caring about their less than 1000 user clients. However, because Microsoft is the most ubiquitous OS in the world, they have an additional RESPONSIBILITY to make for damn sure their products work properly (reliable, bug free and vulnerability free as much as a billion dollar company can). In my opinion, Microsoft has done a piss-poor job.... especially when comparing them to Sun, Novell and even free Linux. >If you don't know how to drive are you going to blame the person that >runs into you? Yes, if the person runs into my backend or is drunk coming in the opposite direction! >If you don't know how to use a shotgun are going to blame >the person who sold you the gun when you blow your arm off? Anyway where is the relevance in your analogies? >have no clue. We had to send a tech down to help a person log into their >computer. They didn't know how to press CTRL+ALT+DEL. The keyboard had >CTL instead of CTRL on the key. And? I once had to show a client how to turn on a power bar before they could turn on their computer. So what? Some people are not technically inclined, that is one of the reasons why we have jobs in this business. >Or the other fabulous ones that reboot their computer and call us saying >their hard drive crashed when all they did was leave a non-bootable >floppy disk in the drive. I used to see that one often, at least until, the option to make the floppy a secondary boot device became available. >Because people think they are computer geniuses even though they I wouldn't trust anyone who claims to be a genius. Even Einstein refrained from using that misused term. >Don't blame MS. They are just responding to all the crap they got about >not being secure. If people wouldn't click on every stupid theng they >get via email, MS would ahev NEVER released that patch. No, you're WRONG Mike. It is the people who complain that make changes happen. Complacency is a very dangerous thing! I'm a little bit of a %^$$ disturber and because of that, I have helped make a number of commercial products better and/or safer. If you want a diligent beta-tester, I'm your man! Unfortunately, these days we much purchase beta software. Shawn _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
