Great post Charlie, individual empowerment via the PC has all but died. Back in the day when corporate networks weren't exposed to the wonder of the Internet most of your security holes were virii that had to be sneaker-netted around. Microsoft should have gotten a clue then, but also the designers of the Internet, too (IETF) -- TCP/IP has been chock full of security flaws.
Could it be that computer software designers, hardware designers and internet designers forgot that man (men and women) are basically a totally depraved race? v/r //SIGNED// Stephen S. Wolfe, YA2, DAF 6th MDG Data Services Manager 6th MDG Information System Security Officer Comm (813) 827-9994 DSN 651-9994 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Charlie Coleman Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 8:48 AM To: ProFox Email List Subject: Re: [NF] How do I make a program name generally executable? At 07:57 AM 11/13/2007 -0500, Ed Leafe wrote: ... > Well, that's a great way to turn off a number of potential users. >I'd still like them to be able to check out the Dabo Runtime Engine, >which doesn't require admin privileges to install. ... No tech help here, just some comments. Watching this thread, it really hits home how stupid the Windows OS has become. A PC was supposed to be a powerful tool for users to ply to their individual style and needs. In fact, the most benefit reaped from PCs was when the environment facilitated those things. Nowadays, because of stupid Windows OS design (security holes, MS licensing, etc), the corporate environment has been basically thrown back to the old mainframe days. Now, the PC is a "locked down" resource and you're once again forced into things the way 'corporate' decides. Supposedly no new applications can be made to a machine (well, MS can change it anytime they want of course, and they have - even with auto-updates turned off). I think if you can get something working on Windows without going through the registry (or other potentially "locked down" part of the computer) it would be an incredible advantage to the application. It brings back some of the freedom and power the PC originally promised. But you realize you're flying in the face of what MS wants: that is, eventually, a fee for every time the user clicks a button or presses a key on the keyboard. > I've decided that I would just alter the README file to include a >blurb about changing the system PATH variable to include the location >of daborun.exe if they want to work from the command line. This is probably the best you can do in an Windows environment. Provided details about what is really technically needed for an application is one of most "friendly" things a developer can do. Again, however, this flies in the face of MS guidelines that generally tries to hide as much as possible from users... and even technical folks. I hope you get it working on Windows. And I hope that in doing so you'll be able to eventually pry them away from it to something better like Linux Ya know, if I stay in the computer industry, I may try something a little novel (or maybe it's not....). Basically use a cross-platform tool to build the system. But, for the Windows version, turn off or slightly modify some features - telling the users supporting the system on Windows is a much larger burden for a vendor. If they move to Linux, they'll get the full feature set... etc. After all, it's the applications that "sell" the OS - even though MS is trying to brainwash everyone into thinking the opposite. :-) -Charlie [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
