Wow. Too good to keep here in [email protected], so I forwarding this to [EMAIL PROTECTED], where politically incorrect rant is encouraged.
John Hebert --- john beamon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I want to take this one step farther. There is a > sales mentality that > computers CAN be bought, plugged in, and on the web > in 10 minutes. > Therefore, they SHOULD be bought, plugged in, and on > the web in 10 > minutes. I find this inherently incorrect and > bordering on arrogant. > > We do not require computer users to know two cents > worth about their > machines or their safe use. We require waiting > periods, licensing, > training, and legal registration for the purchase or > even use of guns, > cars, motorcycles, heavy equipment, arc welders, > etc, but nothing for > computers. Even now, computers and "security tools" > like GPG and basic > encryption are being criminalized as tools of > terrorists, when the truth > is closer to "terrorists are safer, more > knowledgeable users of basic > computer functions than most Windows users". > Frankly, I applaud their > steps taken toward privacy and discretion and smart > computer use; when was > the last time the US government cracked a terrorist > network or fed it a > virus in a Word document? MS commoditized and > simplified the entry-level > OS and released it into the wild. It is generally > speaking insecure, > buggy, and exploitable. Common users are generally > naive about its > workings and its safe and controlled use in public > (networked). By > engineering remote control software into XP, MS has > shown that they > continue to prefer and promote a naive user base and > centralized boo-boo > management. > > I disagree strenuously, on grounds economic, social, > political, and > functional. I believe that users with increased > clue would trade messages > and data in portable formats, not shiny ones, so > that they can be reached > from any commoditized machine in any library, home, > or educational > institution. Anything from an industrial dumb > terminal to a library PC to > a college Mac should be able to read email and > browse the web with at > least some functionality. I believe that more > clueful users would rather > keep their private info private than let MS into > their machine or let > their cd player (Media Player) report their > listening habits back to a > vendor. I believe that users would feel safer about > themselves and the > world at large if they had the basic intellectual > tools to avoid every > virus-infected email attachment that gets sent them. > Understand, please, > that the vast, VAST majority of viral traffic is > instigated by curiousity, > not by brute force. More people open unkown email > attachments, after the > years of Melissa and Nimda and HappyWorm, than are > infected by > sophisticated autoexecuting binaries in their > unopened mail spools. Those > sophisticated worms ARE a problem, but they are the > Ebola virus in a world > where millions die for not washing their hands > before they eat. > > The native faculty of Windows to execute any virus > that comes down the > pike from what SHOULD -- by all measures functional > and reasonable -- be a > text-only environment is a problem. An out-of-box > problem. It was > mentioned earlier that a new user on an out-of-box > machine is not > necessarily "insecure", and I disagree to the very > last iota. XP comes > preinstalled with the ability to turn on your PC's > mic, call home to > Microsoft, and allow internet access to your > filesystem, all without your > permission or even knowledge. Don't leave home WITH > it. I am running one > XP box right now, months after it has been > proctologized and patched into > delirium. I'm still behind a firewall, and I still > read all my mail in > either PINE or Mozilla, in plain text, > thank-you-very-much. > > I'm not an OS bigot; I've got four copies of Windows > installed in my > house, three of them dual-booted with Linux. I am, > however, placing the > blame for this "security" problem where it belongs, > the official practice > of turning loose self-aware "appliances" that run > programs out of text > documents and expose raw network sockets to every > process on the box. > Users who want mail and web should get a non-root > account on a box that > runs Mozilla or Opera or Netscape. I believe > Windows would be a better > place if it allowed an Administrator privilege set > for doing system > maintenance, but not as a desktop login. Login as > Joe, try to run a > system-critical process, and get an su-style popup > that requests an > Administrative password. It serves the purposes of > awareness and > prevention and makes people realize there's more to > driving a car than > turning on the radio. > > -- > -j > > John Beamon > > On 3 Jul 2002, mat branyon wrote: > > > Date: 03 Jul 2002 12:26:51 +0000 > > From: mat branyon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Reply-To: [email protected] > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: RE: [brlug-general] IE un-Security > > > > just bc someone is ignorant of certain matters > does not mean that they > > should be sheltered. if they want to use email > and chat, and do all the > > other fun things that the net has to offer, they > need to realize that > > security is a big issue, and they need to take > care of it. just bc i > > dont know how to work on cars doesnt mean i > shouldnt have an alarm > > system or change the oil myself. im not saying > they should be able to > > resolder sockets back on their motherboard, but > they should know the > > basic maintanence skills to keep thier computer > running. > > > > on the other hand, if they could all do that... > there would be a lot > > fewer jobs for computer techs (like me). > > > > the moral of the story is... people need to learn > to think on thier own, > > even if it might cost me a decent job... :( i > would much rather a world > > less full of ignorance > > > > --mat > > > > > > On Wed, 2002-07-03 at 14:42, Doug Riddle wrote: > > > I want to wade in on this one, because I can see > both sides. > > > > > > I'll use my father as an example. He is very > intelligent, a former > > > general of the US Army, captain of industry, > etc, etc. He is not, by > > > any stretch of the imagination computer > literate. He can use a PC > > > and send and recive emails, but if the screen > changes colors, he > > > calls for help. To him, a computer is a > "blackbox." At almost 70 > > > years old he has no interest in trying to learn > the workings of said > > > box, he just wants to stay in touch and talk to > some old friends. He > > > should be able to do that in reasonable safety. > He understands there > > > are security issues, and has accepted the fact > that his ignorance > > > will occassionaly lead to his PC being wiped > out. He counts on > > > keeping a low profile and a decent virus scanner > to protect him from > > > most problems, and it will. > > > > > > I, on the other hand run some domains, manage > some === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! 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