RANT on your RANT:
>
> What really galls me is the complete lack of concern exhibited by this
> Onel de Guzman person. I guess it's hard to fathom having done $10B in
> damage, and lots of other factors contributed to that figure - notably,
> stupid users and stupid Micro$oft. But he ought to have shown even SOME
> regret. This person is really screwed-on wrong. Totally amoral ("stealing
> is ok," "aw, shucks, $10 billion you say.. tough luck").
>
> And he's not even that clever.
>
> Sigh. I reserve my admiration for the likes of Linus, John Carmack, and
> Andrea Arcangeli (who's younger than me and probably most of the people on
> this list). Amateur script-kiddies don't make that list.
I share your opinion about this dweeb. However, i've got a scarier picture.
As you said, this person wasn't even that clever. Obviously he doesn't know
much about how ISPs work and that "brand spanking new technology" called caller
ID.
But despite that just look at how much damage he has done to the global
internet. Imagine if he was a little bit more clever, and less of a
"script-kiddie".. He would have gotten away with it, laughing as the internet
community struggled back to its feet.
That's scary, indeed. Which brings me to the point of this post. Who is to
blame? Who else but the Redmond hegemony for ramming down users throats
products that become breeding grounds to programs coming from sick minds. And
guess what? That age old FUD attack on open source and linux -> That you won't
have anyone to sue when things go wrong... ? Do i hear class action suits being
filed demanding millions in reparation for the damage done by its products to
business and industry?
My point: The hacker and virus development culture is only a symptom of the
real problem which is the blatant disregard by Microsoft for the security of
their products and the environment of encouragement it brings to would-be virus
writers. So long as vbscript technology could be applied anywhere from Word
macros to email documents, this problem will recur, probably with even
deadlier results. The solution is not the (re)training of users. The solution
is throwing away the technology that breeds this kind of virus culture, and the
adoption of free, safer and simpler programs (source code readily available, of
course), of which one can have the peace of mind that nothing catastrophic will
happen after a simple action as opening one's email.
-
Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph
To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
