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Slashback: Mexico, Ukraine, Oceania
... and you'll like it! LupusUF writes: "As everyone knows by now...Kazaa is using top text links Kazaa is using top text. But not only are they using them, they are badmouthing people who complain about them. When someone posted a complaint, a Kazaa moderator (Super_Harris) started out his reply by saying "How Dare You!" and then went on trying to explain why they are using top text. Another moderator makes some more poor excuses in the same thread. The same thread also has some very useful information about the spyware that kazaa has installed with the latest version (cydoor, Onflow, New.Net, WebHancer).
My advice would be to get ad-aware.
I hope Kazaa starts treating its users with more respect, and at least gets moderators that can answer questions without treating their users like idiots."
Sircam Sircam A quivering, cowardly reader wrote to point out that sensitive Ukranian government documents were apparently leaked by the Sircam virus. Even juicier than the steady stream of love notes, recipes, tax information, homework, bids and schedules that keeps flowing into my mailbox.
Don't look for much help from Microsoft on this, either, and hardly any from ISPs. Most of the ISPs I've contacted still claim not to have heard of Sircam, and say "it's not our responsibility." Email from Microsoft (after I cc'd them on a few of my virus alerts) equally disclaims responsibility. Funny how Sircam never made it to the front page of their site. Kudos to Charter Communications for calling customers to let them know they were infected -- and a pox on Prodigy for refusing to.
May the path of least resistance rise to meet you. Alec Muzzy writes: "Wired has a story about a failed plan to install Linux on computers for Mexican Schools in an effort to save money. Instead they have decided to run Windows, because Linux wouldn't run on their hardware. As they say, 'It was easier to go with Windows.'
Here's a perfect example of where the free cost of Linux should have been an advantage, yet they decided to go with Windows instead. Does this mean that the costs of running Linux are higher than the cost to purchase Windows?"
Fuck it, I was waiting for an on-topic article to post this, but there's been nothing really appropriate yet. Here's a quich hack that might just do some good!
..P.........[..j
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I just has a fairly evil thought while reading through securityfocus:
Old address of www.whitehouse.gov
(as attacked by code-red): 198.137.240.91 = C6 89 F0 5B
Address of www.riaa.com: 208.225.90.120 = D0 E1 90 78
[coward@anonymous coward]$ grep "C6 89 F0 5B" codered.hex
FF 00 50 C7 85 80 FE FF FF C6 89 F0 5B 8B F4 6A
Someone please tell me it's not really this simple!! Grab a copy of the worm (netcat listen on port 80, you should have it in less than an hour) replace the whitehouse IP with the RIAA's, and then netcat it back into a bunch of IIS servers?
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Uh, I take it you've never installed KaZaa have you.. there's a bloody checkbox for all the plugins they ask to install on your machine, so you can choose NOT to install them.
Why do people bitch about add-on packages being spy-ware when all of such add-ons can be opted out, and have UNINSTALL options?
Being that I work for Charter Communications (thanks for the kudos, Timothy) here in Michigan, and having had to deal with customers about virii infections, I can say that to an extent, it *is* in our best interests to let customers know when we find they have a virus.
.xls file. ;) Of course I would rather spend all that time hacking on a uBR924 to fix a corrupted flash image or forgotten password, but it's never a good thing to forget that our customers are the basis for my paycheck, at no matter what level of the biz I'm in.
Especially one like SirCam that sends out random bloated MSOffice files, BMP images, etc...
Truly not much we can do, except for call. Cutting off service is usually the last used of our options. It only takes a quick call, or even just a reply to that e-mail I just got with an attached
It's *very* easy to say that it's the Outlook user's responsibility, but most, if not all, Outlook users I know had no choice in their mail client. And easily the majority of them are not as geeky as most of us, and it's easy for us to say they should be aware... How many of them have a part of their job description that they are to stay on top of the latest virus/worm/etc?
Please.
I will, of course, agree that MS is greatly responsible for the whole ease of spread of ILU and SirCam.
This is My Opinion®, not necessary that of my employer, etc, etc...
Randy Carnahan
--
SW::POP Michigan Region
Funny thing that.. if it happens in South America or other places it's called bribery. If it happens in North America it's called 'lobbying'
You honestly believe DMCA got passed because it was a good idea? Hell no, it got passed because the people who wanted it made a 'generous campaign donation' to the people who could make it happen.
It's just cheaper for Mexican schools to pirate Windows than to learn Linux. Wouldn't you agree? ;-)
Can't use an OS because you've never used it before? Learn to use it!
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy. Yeah, mount, then a space, then a backslash, then d, e, v, another backslash, f, d, and the number 0, then a space, then a backslash, m, n, t, backslash, then the word floppy. Floppy, f, l, o, p, p, y. Thats right Mom. An error? Oh, that means you don't have FAT support compiled into your kernel. O.K, heres how you compile a new kernel...."
"Hi Mom! Whats that, you can't open the word document you were sent by your friend? Oh, O.K, follow my instructions. Open an xterm first. An xterm. Oh your using KDE arn't you? See the little icon at the bottom of the screen that looks like a screen? Yeah, the black one. Click that. O.K, has a window opened? Great. Now, type su and press enter. No, s, and then the letter u. Su, yeah mom. O.K, now type your root password. Thats the one, on the peice of paper I told you keep safe. That one, yeah. You can't find it? Keep looking Mom, you really need that password...you've found it? Good. Type it in, and press enter. No Mom, it won't show you what you're typing. Oh right, you must have typed it wrong. Type su and enter again, then type your password in and press enter. Did it work? Um, how can you tell? Does the bash prompt say "root" or "mom" on it? The bash prompt. The writting on the left of the window, on the line you're on. It says "root"? Good. Now put your disk in the drive. Type mount
So on and so forth. Yeah, Linux for everyone! Wooo!
It's pretty amazing to me that they decided to buy a $100 OS instead of a $30 modem card, and in general Linux requires fewer system resources than Windows. And having problems installing because of old drives not being able to read CD-R's is a little silly, too -- for the volumes they're talking, they could easily press their own CD's for almost nothing. I have to believe that there's something else going on there. Like it being absurd to have 2 people responsible for every aspect of of deploying computers and software to thousands of schools without any staff for training, backed by a bureaucracy that was willing to give $millions to MS rather than building staff to support this project.
:-)
Kickbacks? Corruption? How much would MS pay to keep latin america from developing into a center of Linux/open source development?
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amavis works well, though there is the obvious performance hit due to the extra processing done on every message. With some optimization, you can get the performance to stay at an acceptable level though.
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Oh you meant how do you block viruses using a linux server?
killall -9 sendmail
Sendmail -> AMaViS -> Sophos Sweep ... Does the job VERY nicely! I'd recommend Sophos to anyone!
/. ID is lower than the real Bruce Perens'.
Barely related, but another nice mail server addon is "Drac". It hooks into qpopper or cucipop and uses RPC to update a database of IP addresses allowed to use your relay. Successful auth while checking POP gives your IP a half hour relay window. Others are denied.
The real Threed's
--Threed
On the part about Linux in Mexico, I have to wonder what part would not run on their systems.
No drivers for Winmodems. (Some of us actually read the article...;-)
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
Linux installs are like Windows installs in that they are much easier after you have done 5 or 6 of them, but that's hardly consolation to the new Linux user. Even worse, Linux is only a little better if you can get it pre-installed. Even then it's not quite like Windows, and there certainly are quite a few things that aren't well supported. On the other hand Linux has some really cool advantages over Windows, especially for power users. I definitely prefer my Linux desktop over my Windows one, but I have learned to use Unixy tools.
There are some tips that make Linux a little easier to use. First of all, join a Linux mailing list, preferrably one for the distribution that you are using, and spend some time lurking. Yes, I know, you have better things to do than reading 100 emails a day about how to get a particular sournd card working. You don't have to actually read all of the email, you just need to get a feel for what sort of questions are being asked, so that you can A) not ask the same question as the last 400 people when you have a question and B) so that you can learn a little bit about how actual Linuxers get their work done.
For example, a new Windows refugee with a fresh install of Linux almost always heads straight for Wine, because they want to run their old familiar software. Now, Wine is certainly useful for those critical pieces of software that don't have Linux equivalents, but that kind of software is getting more and more scarce all of the time. Instead you should (after making sure that it hasn't been asked a million times) ask some actual Linuxers what they use as a replacement for the software that you would like to use. You would be surprised how enlightening this is. I learned about LaTeX that way (long before Linux had a word processor), and I have been grateful since. LaTeX is certainly not as easy to use as a word processor, but for some types of documents it is clearly the "right tool for the job."
Another word of advice is to refrain from building packages from source unless you really have to. Yes, I realize that this sounds contrary to the whole Open Source ethos, but the way to mastery is long and fraught with many perils (sorry I couldn't resist). Chances are good that there is an RPM package of the software you want to use, and since you use RedHat, it's almost certain to work for you. Save the source code for pieces of software that you want to hack (or debug).
If you decide that Linux isn't for you, try back again in six months to a year. You will be amazed at how far along it will have come. Linux isn't for everyone yet, but it is getting there.
Anyway, I put my keyboard where my mouth is (or something like that) and sent Miguel the Wired link. I wonder how many others did? I know I'm not that original. Hope it helps the folks in Mexico.
Anyway, I put my keyboard where my mouth is (or something like that) and sent Miguel the Wired link. I wonder how many others did? I know I'm not that original. Hope it helps the folks in Mexico.
"I started an entire Free Software Project while working at the largest University in my Home Country of Mexico, so I'd know a little something about Linux and might know 1 or 2 other people in Mexico who do too!"
or
"Hey! Didn't one of those GNOME guys come from Mexico? Maybe we should call him and see if he knows anyone..."
Just a thought...
I have been needing the help and advice on some things, but files send I to people, no response!
The thing is, if you want free help and advice from people, you need to show them some courtesy in return. Try putting a nice friendly "ILOVEYOU" in the subject line next time, and I'm sure you'll get a much better response. If that doesn't work, send them a picture of Anna Kournikova too.
AC wrote:
Two questions.
1) Am I clean or is there something else that I need to deinstall?
2) I didn't know what KaZaA was, and have not installed it. Does anybody know what other programs could have installed eZula/TopText?
I cannot answer that. We deselected the TOPtext installation during the KaZaA setup so it never got to my system in the first place. If possible, get a copy of the Norton System Doctor (NSD) and have it inspect your HD. NSD can usually find dangling registry entries, orphan DLLs, and other nasties that may help you troubleshoot what else may be lurking in your system.
I just had an idea: Go to eZula.com and check their list of partners. Perhaps you downloaded something in the past few weeks/months that you missed. Also, since they get along so well with IE, there is a possibility that they used IE or Outlook (is that what you use for e-mail?) to sneak the TOPtext program into your system.
It's late... I'll let my subconscious work on other ideas. If I come up with something else I'll post it in the morning.
Cheers!
Ehttp://eugeneciurana.com | http://ciurana.eu
I've been using KaZaA for several weeks without intrusions or undesireable software running on my Windoze box.
The latest upgrade for KaZaA, including all the "enhancements" came over the wires either last Sunday or Monday. Neither TOPText, nor any of the other "intrusionware" were installed.
I believe "intrusionware" became a problem for us in 1998 or so with QuickBooks Pro and its desire to install AOL (Corel Draw! also installed some unnecessary crap by default). We realized that most default configurations of shrinkwrapped software tended to install things we didn't want in our (or our customers') systems. Ever since we follow these steps to prevent the introduction of undesirable code:
We found that, 95% of the time, our desktops (and those of our customers still using Windows) were easily rolled back to a known "clean" state by using these tools. The other 5% we had to manually remove one or two registry entries, or DLLs/VxDs loaded during Windows start up. If we absolutely must run a piece of Windows software (i.e. QuickBooks), we can usually pick and choose what to remove and what to leave installed by following this procedure.
About the KaZaA installation
In the case of KaZaA, it drops an upgrade program in its download/share folder. That program gives the option for a "custom install". Deselect (is that a verb?) the options that you don't want such as TOPtext. Watch your registry. No changes to the system.
KaZaA installs some banners and other annoyware under C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM/adcache. KaZaA's UI is a modified version of Internet Exploiter. It's a web browser with a custom UI. You can disable the annoying ads at the bottom of the screen by:
This process sounds like a lot of work, but in reality it only adds about 2 minutes to every new software installation. It saves us from endless hours of grief at a later time.
Annoyware aside, I really like KaZaA. It's quick, and I've been able to find everything I searched for on it.
(If you see my previous posts, we're a mostly-UNIX shop. We (and several of our customers) run a hybrid UNIX+Samba+Windoze environment. No flames on this, OK? I'm a realist, and business demands that we use Windows under certain circumstances)
Cheers!
Ehttp://eugeneciurana.com | http://ciurana.eu
Take a look at TINY. It was designed for exactly the use you're asking for.
Think about it, you've got a bunch of closed source stuff written by some shady companies, can't imagine that is all the best quality code.
But then, it might be a difficult one to exploit, not as easy as, say, a buffer in an index server extension...
Most of this spyware won't have ports listening, they'll be initiating the contact with only certain hosts. Still, the fact that Webhancer patches Winsock leaves some room open for problems.
So is it possible? Can you imagine the consequences? Instead of 300,000 unpatched IIS servers, you might have 6,000,000 targets (number of Kazaa downloads).
Bleh!
but does amavis work? I'm an ISP that would like to do this kind of filtering, but I'm hesitant to implement a new setup without knowing for sure how dependable it is. I love using linux as a server, but switching a critical system like that is not a light matter.
I've gotten a bunch of documents for my advice (although they all have spanish filenames) and I would like to see what's in them. How am I supposed to open them? Obviously I don't want to execute them, because I would get infected.
Any ideas?
Search first, ask questions later.
I figured it out. Note to self: Search first, ask questions later.
3 20 4&cid=216
The answer:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=01/08/01/15
Search first, ask questions later.
Yes, ISPs should be installing Sircam filters, assisting users with installing such filters, or both. It's in their own interest to do so, to cut back on terabytes of unwanted traffic clogging up their pipes.
It's not good enough to tell people not to open attachments, when those attachments are clogging up their pipe and filling up their disk, or using up their disk quota at their ISP.
Let's see...Quayle misspelled and Clinton doesn't know the definition of sex. I'm not entirely certain what definition of literacy you are using, but I think you've made the original poster's point beautifully, thanks.
"The things we wizards have to put up with."--Jethro Bodine
I expect people to cook meat long enough to reach a temperature that will kill most harmful bacteria. I expect my roommates not to leave the mayonnaise or milk or eggs out for several hours. I expect they know enough to wash vegetables before making a salad.
If Pasteur could convince people of these things, maybe there's hope for the average person. (At least put your milk in a wet paper sack!)
--
how to invest, a novice's guide
I was under the impression that most of these machines are standalone, and not clustered together.
It is installed because the adults in the institutions can't adapt.
When I was in grade school, my entire class learned LOGO by typing commands at a command prompt. This was not a room full of geniuses or computer freaks, it was just an average grade school class. This is the reason why I am a programmer today (along with some help from my NES)
Gnome might not be ready for the teachers and administrators of the schools, but the kids are ready. Where the desktop fails, a terminal will always come through. It will scare some of the adults, but the kids can handle it. They need the typing practice anyway.
Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer are not learning tools.
Yes. I posted something similar on Linux Today, but it's my opinion.
That makes sense, but it seems like admins always have three or four other high-priority projects that they could be working on when they're dealing with viruses instead. Things like getting ahead on their patching for the new security holes, setting up network security scanners, planning new software rollouts, etc. There is a real cost to the whole business when you take admins off of their planned support duties and throw them into minute-to-minute emergency virus defense.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
If you look at the CERT Advisory, the only fix it discusses is installing commercial anti-virus software... While that might be a good idea, I would think that there's got to be some other proceedure, like Delete this or that, reinstall MS Word, go into the Control Panel and click the little box that says "I'm not a complete fool, and I care slightly about system security, so don't run any damn macros without asking me", or whatever.
Has anyone seen cleanup proceedures discussed? I know little about the Windows world these days, but my friends still have me pegged as The Computer Expert.
I don't expect ISPs to handle viruses, but I do expect them to at least let users run procmail (or something similar) on the ISP's machine so that users can filter some things out prior to moving it across the slower ISP-to-user connection.
BTW, anyone got a good procmail rule for recognizing Sircam?
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As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Any ISP that does choose to do "virus support" should also add a line-item charge for doing so. ISPs run the network. E-mail is not a part of the network, but a service that runs on the network and it's job is to deliver to you any message that bears your address. What the client software does with it is 1) out of the ISP's hands and 2) irrelevant to email delivery.
I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
"We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer
Yes, amavis works fine in my experience, it does add a little extra load the the mail server (I guess any virus scanner would). I'm using it with qmail and Sophus Sweep, and have stopped lots of sircam mails since installing it.
As amavis really is only a link between your mail server and your virus scanning program, wether it will find a virus depends not on it, but on the anti-virus software.
Resistance is not futile - www.gnu.org
Congratulations, you've just destroyed the referential integrity of the message. If the message had a MIME-encoded cryptographic signature, you rendered the entire message useless.
:-/
Time to start using _plain text_ again, isn't it? I've never understood the eagerness of stupid mail clients to use Mime all over the place. Ohwell .
The real solution is a well-designed email client:
Uses cryptography to establish trust.
Only automatically opens/runs attachments via sandboxed methods.
Requires user intervention, and by default displays a warning, for accessing attachments that cannot be sandboxed.
To use your own word. Balderwash!
Cryptography to establish trust? What on earth prevents the virus from using the same crypto? The passphrase? The passphrase that may be sniffed from the keyboard by the virus? Yeahrite.
Sandbox model. Well, sure, but don't you forget something? How should the nice little doc be _saved_ for the cluebie, after he opened it in his nice little sandbox?
Note number 3 is ok. User intervention is OK, but it'll make user just click 'ok' all the time, and have no effect except for the first month or so.
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"Rune Kristian Viken" - http://www.nwo.no - arca
Too bad Symantec's scanners, as of July 27, 2001 anyway, couldn't catch Sircam.
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Try here: http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/OE/scripts/help/ OE-attach.asp.
. asp.
If that doesn't help, you can try here: http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/download/advice
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
I guess they expect ISP's to have someone monitor what mail comes through their box(en) 24/7. Once in awhile I came across a sircam load going through and intercept it when I can, notify the person who's machine is infected, tell them how they can get rid of it, and if thier on a static IP I block it untill they get it fixed. But, that's only a small percentage of what comes in and goes out.
It's the responsibility of the user to keep his/her machine free from viruses so things like the sircam doesn't happen.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
I have not been able to find anything to help me configure Microsoft Proxy Server 2.0 to allow my linux box through. I thought I had it working once, but I can't remember what I did. I tried setting the SOCKS proxy up as well , to no avail. Not sure if it is me, or if this really isn't possible. Can someone advise?
Once I thought I was wrong...I was mistaken.
You laugh, but you'd better believe Microsoft will be pointing to this story whenever one of their potential customers is considering Linux. "Look! Mexico tried it and it was a big failure. Stick with me, boys. Nobody ever got fired for buying Microsoft."
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Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
This is a reply I typed up and started sending everytime I received one of these (annoying 200 Kb bandwidth-wasting) Sircam documents:
Hello. Just to let you know, it seems that your Windows-based PC appears to be infected with the "SirCam" virus (details at http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,606 1,2801171-2,00.html, possible anti-virus fix details at http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sir cam.worm@mm.removal.tool.html). It is likely that you, or somebody else who has used your PC, double-clicked an attachment received from another infected user, which caused your own PC to be infected. (Double clicking on attachments you have received by e-mail, whether from a "trusted" source or not is almost NEVER a good idea.)
What you choose to do about this is your business, but I thought I'd let you know that your private documents are being sent to random Internet users around the world -- and not every one of them deletes them unread like I do.
By the way, you might wish to consider switching to Linux. I have been a happy Linux user since 1995, and I have not had to put up with these kinds of viral infections since giving up Microsoft software so long ago.
that Morpheus creates. You'll note that they start off kazaablahblahblah
As far as I can tell, Super_Harris is just some guy with a lot of free time who added "Kazaa Moderator" to his .sig file in a fit of zealousness one day. He devotes a whole lot of posts to plugging his own "advice" website and picking fights with Kazaa critics. If he actually has some sort of official position with Kazaa, I haven't seen the evidence yet.
Query whether Microsoft is cutting them a deal.
I'd set one up myself, but with the current climate of sue first and ask questions later, or worse jail first, ask questions later, I'm not too comfortable about the idea, even if it turns out in the end to be a legal proposition.
Now... find a lot of free anonymous webspace somewhere.... hmm...
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
First of all, #2. If a program is secure, it doesn't matter if the port is open. Also, if the system is secure, it won't be able to catch the worm in the first place, and therefore its not a problem.
#4 same issue. If the worm can get in, then you need to be playing a little less quake.
A well designed worm will do the following:
Search for one single hole (lets say a named hole). Install a resident program on the system. Patch the hole. Search out, locate, and infect 100 insecure systems. After infecting 100 other systems, remove itself.
This worm will only infect a machine once. There will be a lot of scanning, but only 100 times and once the first 100 have passed, that machine will never scan again for that vulnerability.
A separate worm should be available for every known exploitable security hole. Obviously here I'm thinking of linux systems, but its a start.
Ideally the scanning could be done to specific blocks of IP addresses in such a way that it will minimize repeated attempts.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
Simply put, they don't need to.
load "linux",8,1
I believe the whole point was to get by with existing or very cheap hardware. They really didn't have much of a choice in what they got.
load "linux",8,1
So what (normal user) mail programs are considered safe? I notice nothing was said about Pegasus, so is this the only choice?
Personally, I either use pine or a web interface to read my mail, so I really haven't kept up with this.
load "linux",8,1
Yes, when I was working for some school districts in Texas we where able to purchase NT for like $25. $10 more if you wanted a CD set.
load "linux",8,1
One installer that really bugs me is RealPlayer. There is a screen during the install where you select which "channels" you want to subscribe to or something. None of the visible options in the scrollbox are selected, so most people just go on.
Of course the channels that they really want to push are at the bottom of the list and are checked by default, you just can't see them without scrolling down.
That just bothers me.
load "linux",8,1
No, what's really needed is a virus that sends an email to people in the user's personal address book that carries as its payload a letter explaining to all, just exactly why they shouldn't be using Outlook.
-- -- --
To whom it may concern,
You probably know the person who sent this email to you. This person has spread a malicious worm to your computer because they insist on using insecure Microsoft products.
Please take the time to call this person and suggest to them that they switch to another mail client. Here are some links you can point them to:
Pegasus Mail
Eudora Mail
By the way, I am attempting to spread this virus from your machine as you are reading this. If you have taken the appropriate precautions, good for you. If not, expect some phone calls.
Have a great day!
-- -- --
load "linux",8,1
What is an issue is the vast majority (care to argue this point?) of windoze users, many of whom are no more than kids, who simply click "next" until a program installs.
It's not just kids - there is a surprisingly large chuck of adults that are just point-'n-drool. Mind-boggling and frustrating as it may be that they can't comprehend relatively simple stuff, it remains true.
Here's a scenario:
1. You have an account with an ISP that you use for business purposes. The ISP has a maximum mailbox size of, say, 20MB. If the mailbox fills up, anything else gets bounced.
2. You usually check and download your email every hour or so, during business hours. You don't check it after hours or on weekends.
3. Over the weekend, someone who has your address in their addressbook or IE cache gets SirCam and sends you several multi-megabyte attachments, filling up your mailbox and preventing anything else from coming in.
4. An important client sends you an email but it gets bounced.
5. By the time you get to back work and sort out the mess, the bounced client is over deadline, costing you big money in lost business.
(Perhaps it wouldn't work exactly like that, but I think the idea is clear enough.)
Would you be able to collect damages from the infected individual, for allowing their machine to be used to (essentially) DOS you? It be argued that they were negligent by not keeping their antivirus software up to date and by opening the attachment in the first place.
Sure, it wouldn't be the nicest thing to do to someone, but I think I can see it happening in today's 'sue everyone' world.
ISPs should not bear the cost of treating the symptoms of an OS of negligent design.
Virus writers have always been steps ahead of the virus blockers. Outbreaks keep happening.
When people run Windows, they should be aware of the costs of doing so, including all the attendant virus, spyware, malware, executable documents, and other joys that accompany the start button.
Processing each email in whole is expensive. Any site that deals in a large volume of mail will have to install and maintain expensive servers dedicated to treating the above symptoms.
At work, we don't run IIS. We warn people not to run Windows, and espcially not to run Outlook. If they *must* use Outlook for some reason, we lecture them on the dangers of doing so, and fiddle with the preferences to avoid most of the problems.
Thus far, with N billion dollars in damages being quoted by industry experts for the likes of Sircam and Code Red, and other sites crashing under the load, we've seen little to no impact, and happily advise divesting Microsoft stock and product ownerships when our advice is asked for.
When they're alerted that a particular customer's documents are being sent to other users without that user's consent, Yes -- I think it's incumbent on the ISP to take action, not only because they can reduce the spread of the virus, but because their customer's privacy is being violated every time one of their documents is sent out randomly across the internet.
;) ), ISPs are perhaps the best place to contact, or shoud be -- they have the users telephone number, at least generally, and should IMO contact the user to let her know why.
Filtering for it is something that I'd like to be able to choose, but not everyone would. I'm not talking about that; I'm talking about letting their customer know that her files aren't private any more. Especially considering that a lot of the mailboxes belonging to infectees are full (give you one guess why
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Most of the sircam victim's email addresses reach mailboxes that are over-quota, probably because people have bounced the thing back to them.
:)
I've been sending the headers and filenames (of the files Sircam has so nicely sent to me) to the sender, yes, in addition to abuse departments. But I guess you're a troll anyhow, so you don't care, do you?
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
uninstalling Kazaa itself still leaves the reporting-in-sir software hidden on the disk.
That seems like something to bitch about. If the uninstall program doesn't uninstall all components that the installer put on, that's pretty snarky. (And it's sure not confined to sneaky programs -- as I understand it, lots of programs don't uninstall cleanly.)
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Just tell them, No, I don't want the OS installed, can you please deduct that cost from the machine, since I won't be needing a license?
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
... I've found the service to be middlin' but the people on the phone easy to reach, friendly and courteous.
The usual problem with the service I've found (in a small town East of knoxville) is that the cable modem's signal is weak, and sometimes needs to reacquire. Unplug AC to modem, whistle a short song, replug, works again.
A few weeks ago, there was a heavy storm, and the service was up and down and up and down (etc etc). But as you say, it's the only choice in some places for wired high-speed access. One way to know the modem won't work is to turn on the giant diagnostic box with a blue screen. When the cable service is connected, moving images dance across it, with sound. When it's down, the screen just remains blue.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Most people (joe sixpack, joe average, joe professor, all of whom have sisters jane and kids bobby and susie -- my family, the folks down the block, 'normal' people in the world) use a computer as an interesting, more interactive television and storage locker.
... *All operating systems are bad for most people.*
;)
... huh?) I've used the de-installer on Windows two or three times, didn't find it all that helpful or intuitive, in keeping with the rest of Windows ;)
They print papers for school, keep addresses handy on (electronic) sticky notes, click on interesting things they see on the web, draw picures, archive photos, send notes, play music -- all the things AT&T commercials want them to do. That's why they bought a computer.
For them, and for more informed computer users, people who spend hours a day at it, the same thing is true
I'm not that familiar with Windows (though I do use it sometimes) because the guts, even the outer guts, of Windows just aren't all that interesting to me compared to other things I'd like to know about in the world. I don't find the windows interface particularly intuitive, and I enjoy learning its particular brand of not being intuitive much less than I do the non-intuitive interfaces to various Linux environments
I can see a user who installs an app from one dialogue box expect symmetry in its removal -- "Hey, I hit 'install Bingo' to put it on, so I can hit 'uninstall Bingo' to get it off, right?" -- and their expectation I think would be reasonable. It's not fair or reasonable to expect them to understand the assumptions made by a badly labeled, poorly-placed remove option, especially when programs are put on specifically to hide. (Installation puts on 10 programs, de-installation takes off one
For computer jocks (like other enthusiasts in any field) things that are esoteric and obscure to the newbie may be obvious, because they have insider's knowledge, have devoted time and study to it. A lot of them seem to think that only they deserve to use computers.
For *most* users, programs like kazaa's spyware tie-in are sufficiently difficult to detect that the users don't even know they're there.
The esoteric aspect of computers are cool -- it's neat to discover how things work (see Gary Brown's site, and ask him to stop submitting every single thing on it to slashdot;)) and to be interested in the inner workings of electronic things, but there's no good reason to expect people to jump in high on the learning curve of computers, and every reason not to.
Ignorance, not stupidity, is what's being preyed on here, and ignorance is curable, but not by osmosis. Bad interfaces make people feel stupid, so they never care to correct their ignorance in favor of doing other things with their time. So they end up with crud software on their disk, and don't feel like learning how or why it got there, have no idea that it's reporting info to others. ("but it would be trivial to monitor the ports that it might --") No. Again -- Jocks, yes. Most users, No. That's what's so slimy about this stuff.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
One simple, specific act that would should have been done by Microsoft years ago, that should have been forced on them by angry users years ago, and which can be easily implemented today with either real mail servers or third-party Exchange add-ins, would stop SirCam and many other viruses in its tracks.
If an attachment is executable, drop it on the floor. (Be nice and replace it with a message explaining that the executable attachment was stripped and, if this is the 1-in-a-million legitimate occurance the attachment should be retrieved from the sender via FTP or HTTP.) "Executable" means anything with an executable extension (e.g., "vbs") or which starts with a Windows executable prefix.
This takes a little bit of time to perform, but it's far cheaper to automatically scan the first few kilobytes of a message than to needlessly send gigabytes of virus-laden mail. It also takes less customer service time than answering mail from irate customers who lost important messages because the virus filled their mailbox, who have lost hours as their system tried to automatically download megabytes of virus-laden mail, etc.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
Well, yeah - in a way: a "vaccine"...
Although not strictly "good" - because vaccines are typically (always? I am not a virologist) made from weakened or dead viruses, which basically give the immune system time to build up a resistance as it fights this lesser threat (and yeah, sometimes even a vaccine can cause the illness it tries to prevent).
But I am not sure it would be accurate to describe a virus-killing/patching virus a vaccine or not...
Besides, all the points you made are valid, and are things that really keep this kind of idea on a back burner...
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Right! As others have said, wait for the BSA audit. What I can't understand is why all those machines even need modems? Throw some cheapo network cards in them, add a hub and put a good modem in one machine acting as a modem gateway (I tend to doubt each machine has it's own phone line, too)...
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
yeah, I usually notice those programs running only when they generate a GPF or some sort of access violation anw to IS reports to me that this or taht app crashed. And I go "Huh? This thing crashed and I do not even know I was running it - moreover, I never knew it existed on my machine and have no clue what installed it or what it does!"
- -------------------
Typical virus-ware. I think we just coined a new term here. Good one too.
BTW: WebHancer got reinstalled at least 4 times on my machine @ work and @ home, and I do not even have a clue about *what* installs this piece of @#$%^.
I am ticked off and can't even do a thing about that. Time to throw away my computer and go live in the woods, like our predescessors...:(
-----------------------------
Jobs? Which jobs?
Nobody at all? Well, I guess I am the only one that develops for Linux then... And I use Windows for the things that haven't been ported or rewritten for Linux. There are a few things like that left, particularly games. Once my office suite gets a bit more friendly towards Word files, and a few more games are ported to Linux, I have precisely no reason to keep windows around...- ----------
--------------------------------------
Jobs? Which jobs?
I have been needing the help and advice on some things, but files send I to people, no response! Where can send I this file to get advice that I am needing?
Goodbye!
---- El diablo esta en mis pantalones! Mire, mire!
IANAL either, but there's this new law out that should help you with your prosecution. You may have heard of it...Digital millenium something or other.
Is there one main web site out there where people can submit interesting things they've received in order to have their advice? An admitted voyeur, I've been disappointed with the quality of things I've gotten so far - although one zip file full of (clean) pictures of some girl was interesting. I guess this means I correspond with boring people. Oh well.
----
grep -ri 'should work'
I always figured that it would be cute to modify a spammer's bulk mailing program so that it quietly slipped in a couple emails traceable to the spammer. Emails with threats... To high-placed politicians... That should get the wheels of justice going :-)
But I have mixed feelings about making life worse for the dumb clod that catches viruses. Yes, they deserve to be LART'ed, but going beyond that is probably stepping from justice into barbarism.
How about a virus that sends an email to the local paper, which can have a weekend insert listing all the community dumbasses?
A dingo ate my sig...
Excuse me, but WTF are you smoking? Do you expect ISPs to filter email for sircam, or block sircam-sending IPs, or ... precisely what exactly?
Of the two ISP's I've had to deal with re: sircam
bullshit: Both responded within 30 minutes of my
phone call. Particular credit to nethawaii.net
for disabling the account until the user could
remove the virus.
I would think that it would be easier to disable
offending accounts than it would be to stay on the
phone all night dealing with calls from irate people
that *aren't* their customers.
Rev. wRy
So you're saying that you need to be a network administrator in order to get W2K stable?
--
Lord Nimon
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
Yes, I read it this morning. Thanks.
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
Strangely enough, I would not object to client/server software that allowed users connecting to a server to annotate my pages and read the annotations of others if:
1) The software did not install deceptively as part of another product.
2) The annotations don't take the form of advertisements and
3) I was running the server or the person running the server asked my permission before pointing it at my pages.
I suppose one might question the value of the stuff on my web page, but it is valuable to me and I'll not stand for it being modified against my wishes.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Hey, thanks for linking to the printer-friendly version. It loaded so fast it pleasantly shocked me. I wish more folks would do the same...
I can explanate how to administrate your network. You must configurate and segmentate it, so it can computate.
You can definitely use Debian. You can build floppies for the minimum install, then finish the install using network. I installed on a P133, 16M of RAM.
It is my belief it would run on 486, but I haven't tried.
On the other hand, the latest RH would not install on my 16Mb RAM computer.
Anyway, Freshmeat will give you a whole bunch of light linux distros.
In my opinion, Scientology is a cult you should avoid.
As for the installation of Linux on Mexican computers, a great deal of that was probably education. Not many Mexican school teachers would be up to the task of installing Linux. Honestly, they have enough trouble finding teachers qualified to teach anything there. I'll probably get slammed by any Mexican nationals that come to the site, but my impression of Mexican education from when I lived there was that it was well, third world.
I certainly don't blame the teachers. It's, to a large degree, a matter of finance. It's a poor country and they can't afford to hire good teachers and they can't afford to educate good teachers. It's a viscious circle.
I never really had any confidence in the ability of Mexico to deploy Linux in their schools. Just didn't seem likely.
Which brings me to a point of internationalization. How well does Linux internationalize to other languages, like Spanish?
All (or I should say, a great majority) of the computers in Mexico use "Spanish (Traditional)" keyboards (the Windows definition of the keyboards) where the enyay (the n with the squigly line on top) is where our semicolon/colon key is on English keyboards, and most of the non-letter keys are relocated. As well as having the ability to place accent marks above the vowels.
I find your assessment to be a little too biased, sorry. And I say that with having a few years of living in Mexico under my belt. I find that the corruption situation has been improving significatly over the past 5 years.
That said, I don't know exactly where you live, and conditions are different from area to area. As I said in my previous post though, I think it has more to do with a lack of people trained in Linux than with lining a politician's pocket with $$$.
Also, as a democrat, I found your remarks in that area a little offensive. We won't go into the literacy of some of the "great" republicans of recent history cough-cough-Quayle-cough-cough.
I think the slashdot populace (not you, the kind of people whose sentiment was expressed in that line about ISPs) should think their principles through carefully. Most of the time, ISP regulation of your email or access is seen as bad on slashdot. So is government regulation of the internet. I agree. But when there is some annoyance, they want regulation to fix that. Bad idea!!
Annoyances like spam or sircam are not that bad compared to what could happen to the internet if we encourage value-add ISPs like this (or in the case of spam, government regulation). Just press delete or write some damn mail filters. Stuff like the DMCA or the CDA is much, much harder to deal with.
It is true that corporate email systems should have filters for this. Perhaps, if I ask my ISP to block mail with attachments, they should be able to provide that service. But when I am paying for raw internet connection, I do NOT want regulation on that from anyone. Do you?
Too bad they did not step up! That's the best way to learn. Get them to set up a non esential service an an obsolete cuz it don't run W2k box for practice. It will out do your supposedly cheaper solution.
Oh, by the way, if you use Debian patches are as easy as apt-get update; apt-get upgrade; in your chron. Set it up and earn your pay!
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Instructions and tools for building the floppies are available on both the CD and at http://www.debian.org! The set consists of 15 or so floppies. They can be made with the DOS utility, rawrite.exe. It's tedious but it works. 8M of ram is a low ram install but it can be done. Good luck!
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
It's good to want to warn people, but keep it short and simple. The links are nice. Admonishments about double clicking, trusted sources and "your business" can be percieved as smug and are inefective in anycase. Do you know this thing requires a double click? MS will give a scary warning for the links too... the user may be scared to look at your untrusted email links after that.
Imagine getting something like this from some clueless MS user who had been tricked. Replace Linux references in the above with MS BS and you can see how offensive it is. Also, imagine that the files they referenced were not yours.
The essential information you are sending is that you recieved mail purporting to be from them, their machine is infected (must be if SirCam remembers it? imagine if it had an address harvester!), and news links. A three liner should do.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Dude, linux has way more deniability than microsoft. Example: My compouter's broken - its because I'm running linux and it has crappy support for my HW.
Take this personaility test.
Where I live Charter actually doesn't do the cable modem stuff themselves -- it's subcontracted to a bunch of poorly trained monkeys dressed up as techs.
These jokers often break existing installations when they add new subscribers and at one point my friend could either watch TV or use his cable modem but not both at once thanks to their incompetence.
I'm sure what he meant was that he can't use email ; )
Yup, I've only got a couple of these so far, but I figured the proper thing to do was educate people. And how better to drive the message home than public humiliation - I've mailed them back to give them my advice on the file they sent (as requested), told them how I got it (in simple terms), and informed them that I'd be making fun of them on my web site. Ahhh, it feels good to help : )
The other two posters above have been very helpful, but I think there's one thing that will still need to be done. Sit your friends down, reiterate the fact that they've just sent out private data, and tell them to remember this next time they get a suspicious email attachment.
Hardware compatibility problems have been solved, and the idea to adopt an open-source platform still stands.
This year, 1,400 schools will be equipped with external modems, and Ibarra plans to install Linux on those computers.
Dosen't sound like they're giving up to me. Also, they already have twenty schools running on GNU/Linux. They have schools already on it and they're planning to add more, it's just not a fast or as wide-spread as they had hoped. Just because a project dosen't go off as well as expected dosen't mean it is a failure.
Was Linux 2.4 a failure because it shipped a year late?
Jordan Bettis
``Wherever you go, there's another stupid sigfile quote.''-- ;-)
Kuro5hin.org: where the good times never end.
-- ;-)
Kuro5hin.org: where the good times never end.
Welcome to the real world, Amigo.... Computers and 'computerists' (1) don't exist in isolation; All users have priorities and values that are, by definition, not congruent with that of the average /.er. Somehwere along the line someone has to pay, somehow, for that new server under your desk, for your trip to CA-World or the latest open Source conference, for those routers and cables that let you check out the latest game sites. Even when you allow for existing infrastructure, someone has to have paid for it in the first place, and keep up the maintenance. /. (only an example - there's so many other US-centric sites around) never recognises....You would do well to remember that there's a lot people (both within and outside the US) that have more important things to do with their precious time and money (like keeping themselves alive, if not healthy and well fed), than help prop up what is essentially a religious war (tux v redmond) that has no relevance to their lives.
This leads into something that
(1) anyone who thinks about what goes on in their computer...whether its mac, *nix, win, mvs..
All software is flawed. All hardware is flawed. If you haven't learned that yet,
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
I meet "software engineers" and "system administrators" all the time who want nothing whatsoever to do with Linux.
Here's the deal, in case anyone hasn't figured it out yet: PEOPLE WANT DENIABILITY.
"Well, it doesn't work, and we have a trouble ticket in with Microsoft" (Translation: I don't have to do anything for the rest of the month!)
"Well, the Visual C++ toolset have been upgraded, and we need to upgrade several parts of the server infrastructure, and the vendors are shipping late" (Translation: I don't have to do anything for the next two years!)
"Well, the infrastructure has been upgraded, but now we all need training" (Translation: off to vegas for drinking and whoring!)
"Well, the system just crashes -- Microsoft products aren't the greatest, but it's the only game in town. It'll get better with the next service pack" (Translation: I don't do anything but install the crap!)
Dr. Who refered to these people as "The Tesh" (The techs or technicians). They had little interest in science or engineering, or creating anything new, or even improving what they had, but rather had a kind of cult of knowledge where *they* held the secrets and they rarely let anyone else in. Microsoft is the cult, the MCSE/MCSD is the tesh. They can always throw up the "Microsoft has bugs!" excuse when things go bad.
Contrast this with Linux -- all you need is desire, skill and talent. There is nothing hidden, and it's all free. How far can you go? It's up to you.
The choice seems so simple, but I meet more and more programmers and admins who just want to use access and VB -- no interest in anything that is not just "a few clicks to the next paycheck", or anything that could remove their golden parachute of deniability.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
I installed redhat 7.1 on an old HP 386 box that had 4 mb. or ram on it. X is really slow on that machine. Windows 98 will not install on it.
Maybe, since you already have the machines networked, you could install RH 7.1 (it is free) on a machine with a cdrom, then install on the rest via boot floppies and NFS.
My own experience is that Linux runs on more hardware as time goes by, not less.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
In the process I found a few things that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. One is that SirC seems to create it's own password file. Another is that it writes a file that may be a log file (or, possibly a data file...)
This latter file was: c:\windows\applog\sirc32.lgc
Here's an excerpt from that file. Anyone care to speculate?
o c9383000 23000 "C:\RECYCLED\SIRC32.EXE"
R c9383000 0 40
R c9383000 100 f8
R c9383000 100 238
R c9383000 20000 1000
R c9383000 1ca00 1000
o c15f0240 92110 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLEAUT32.DLL"
R c15f0240 82000 1000
R c15f0240 82000 1000
R c15f0240 2000 1000
R c15f0240 2000 1000
R c15f0240 83000 e00
R c9383000 1da00 200
R c15f0240 33000 1000
R c15f0240 34000 1000
R c15f0240 35000 1000
R c9383000 1dc00 200
o c929b640 26ff "C:\WINDOWS\WIN.INI"
R c929b640 0 26ff
C c929b640
o c15a65f0 c0000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE32.DLL"
R c15a65f0 ad000 1000
R c15a65f0 b2000 1000
R c15a65f0 b1000 1000
R c15f0240 e000 1000
R c15f0240 84000 1000
R c15f0240 13000 1000
R c15f0240 85000 1000
R c15f0240 86000 1000
R c15f0240 87000 1000
R c15f0240 32000 1000
R c15f0240 17000 1000
R c15f0240 14000 1000
R c15f0240 88000 1000
R c15f0240 29000 1000
o c1526230 862e0 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\USER.EXE"
R c1526230 1844 225e
o c1574000 e000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPR.DLL"
R c1574000 a000 400
o c15a3650 156000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL32.DLL"
R c15a3650 88000 a00
o c15a3680 a000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WSOCK32.DLL"
R c15a3680 6000 a00
o c15b1990 12000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WS2_32.DLL"
R c15b1990 f000 a00
o c15a2590 41035 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSVCRT.DLL"
R c15a2590 35000 e00
R c15a2590 35000 1000
R c15a2590 2f000 1000
R c15a2590 2f000 1000
R c15b1990 f000 1000
R c15a2590 31000 1000
R c15a2590 32000 1000
R c15a2590 34000 1000
R c15a2590 33000 1000
R c15a2590 36000 1000
R c9383000 0 400
R c15a2590 37000 1000
R c15a2590 38000 1000
R c15a2590 30000 1000
R c15a2590 39000 1000
R c15b1990 d000 1000
R c15b1990 e000 600
o c15c6a70 19000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\URL.DLL"
R c15c6a70 10000 200
o c15e7c10 15000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSWSOCK.DLL"
R c15e7c10 f000 1000
R c15e7c10 e000 1000
R c15e7c10 10000 400
o c15b3df0 5d000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WININET.DLL"
R c15b3df0 4c000 1000
R c15b3df0 4d000 1000
R c9383000 19400 1000
R c9383000 4400 1000
R c9383000 1ac00 1000
R c9383000 3400 1000
R c9383000 400 1000
R c9383000 2400 1000
R c9383000 1400 1000
R c9383000 a400 1000
R c9383000 5400 1000
R c9383000 9400 1000
R c9383000 1bc00 e00
R c9383000 21000 1000
R c9383000 8400 1000
R c9383000 7400 1000
R c9383000 6400 1000
R c9383000 d400 1000
R c9383000 b400 1000
R c9383000 e400 1000
R c9383000 f400 1000
R c9383000 10400 1000
R c9383000 11400 1000
R c9383000 12400 1000
R c9383000 14400 1000
R c9383000 13400 1000
R c9383000 17400 1000
R c9383000 1a400 800
R c9383000 15400 1000
o c9383300 d000 "C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE"
R c9383300 0 800
R c9383300 1000 400
R c9383300 5800 200
R c9383300 a00 200
R c9383300 800 200
C c9383300
o c929b640 d000 "C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE"
R c929b640 0 40
R c929b640 80 f8
C c929b640
o c906a340 1e000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TAPI32.DLL"
R c906a340 1a000 1000
R c906a340 1a000 1000
o c15a7ac0 4f000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RPCRT4.DLL"
R c15a7ac0 49000 800
R c906a340 19000 e00
R c906a340 18000 1000
o c900ed20 8000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SVRAPI.DLL"
R c900ed20 5000 200
o c15a5630 13000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSNET32.DLL"
R c15a5630 e000 1000
o c906e920 43000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSVCRT20.DLL"
R c906e920 2f000 1000
R c906e920 31000 1000
R c906e920 30000 1000
R c906e920 35000 1000
R c906e920 36000 400
R c906e920 32000 1000
o c9063930 a000 "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SECUR32.DLL"
R c9063930 6000 800
R c9383000 c400 1000
Well, telling people not to click on attachments will help at least somewhat. The viruses propagate by social engineering, so it's important to break the cycle of infection by teaching people not to open the attachments uncritically. That won't do anything to keep current infections from sending out messages, but it will cut down on the next generation of infections and may (ha, ha, ha) prevent the next virus from propagating at all. It's certainly better than just ignoring the problem completely, and there's always the risk of deleting a legitimate attachment accidentally if you scan transmitted email for viruses. Just think about the damage that could be done if some cracker inserted a bogus entry that recognized MS Word headers into the virus definitions for the on-server virus scan used by a major ISP. Then you'd have a really nasty lawsuit on your hands.
--
Karma down to 50 again. Thanks Karma Kap.
There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.
Sorry to reply to my own post, but a though came to me that was worth voicing:
Make the school machines SECURE by default. That means use secure shell for everything you can, use only the services that are needed, enforce tough passwords, keep backups (even cheap hardware is just fine for that) and if you can use stuff like OpenBSD firewalls and the Linux Intrusion Detection System.
The last thing the schools want to have to do is keep repairing the system after some bright student trashes it. Lock it down, and do it right. Maintain security updates. (Debian Linux is a good distribution for this, as well as having a nice and minimal default install.)
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
Well, since I've never been there I'll trust your apprasial of the situation (it fits with what I've heard before) but I can forsee some outcomes which might still allow a win for Open Source in Mexico:
With the world economy slowing down, there is a chance Mexico might be able to hire some Linux folks at lower prices, especially if they can find some who really care about this issue and are willing to price themselves competitively with the Windows folks in this case.
The next step is to have Microsoft audit all of Mexico's public institutions for license compilance. American corporations are getting that treatment - what makes you think Microsoft won't stoop to grabbing cash from Mexico? Then Mexico audits to find out where all the cash went and a few people who have been skimming the cream get it in the shorts...
The third is to get American corporations to donate their old hardware to causes like this. Linux can do fairly well on older hardware, and if they can be convinced that a bunch of educated Mexican computer nerds are just what they need to solve the eternal shortage of qualified computer people, they may just make a dent. (Plus if they can get a tax credit they like that too.)
A crutical factor is how much autonomy the schools have in something like this. If all schools must meet a national standard, and that standard is windows, we are So Outta Luck. (And so are they.)
I'm actually surprised that the politicians are interested in the details of the software to be installed at all. Are they actively in favor of Windows, or was it indifference that killed (or slowed, at least) the Linux effort? If it was indifference that might be a good sign, actually. Namely, if they don't care and we do, we might still make something happen. Does anyone have a feeling for this one?
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
Given the odds are most of the hardware Mexico will be able to obtain will be out of date, here are some good tools to make a command line based linux distribution a little less frightening, and more importantly useful. It's surprising how much of an unnecessary luxury GUIs are for many things. Anyone with more experience or ideas, tack 'em on.
Desktop Shell:
Midnight Commander - command line mode
http://www.gnome.org/projects/mc/
Flash - An altered version of this might prove extremely useful for schools in setting up a basic, intuitive interface:
http://www.netsoc.ucd.ie/flash/
Typing:
Gtypist - includes a spanish mode
http://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/
Editors:
nano - The standard easy text editor.
http://www.nano-editor.org/
emacs - Scary but powerful - for advanced students
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html
Typesetting:
teTex - fairly complete distribution of the TeX typesetting system; probably not necessary for most levels of education, but if formatted text is desirable this is definitely the none graphical way to make it.
http://www.tug.org/teTeX/
Development Environments:
Rhide - Borland like environment for use with gcc
http://home.lanet.lv/~pavenis/rhide.html
Mathematics:
I do not recommend the use of mathematical programs for educational purposes until there is no other reasonable way to solve the problem. However, a powerful and free computer algebra system does exist, and can be run from the command line, so if research projects or some such effort require it:
Maxima
http://www.ma.utexas.edu/maxima.html
Web Browser:
links - ncurses based browser. A nice piece of work. It will not do graphics, but will handle tables and frames.
http://links.sourceforge.net
Email:
mutt - mutt is very powerful. It can be configured to act similar to the pine email system in order to be slightly more friendly to new users.
http://www.mutt.org/
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
This is most likely what it is. I've spent time at a nonprofit organization, and client licenses for the software they use (various flavors of windows and office 2000, at least) are often in the below-$30 range (with volume buying and the Open License program). A (possibly significant) part of that discount is due to the fact that it is a nonprofit organization. Chances are that they'll (MS will) make the deal even sweeter if they think the schools are 'in danger of' switching to Free software (or just non-Microsoft software, probably).
you might try an older version of Slackware as it used to be available on floppies, or ZipSlack (part of slackware) on the boxen with a little more gusto. ZipSlack installs in 100 meg space on FAT partitions. sounds like a good fit for your situation. its been around for awhile now, and the current version has the newest 2.4 kernels, etc...
If MS was really smart they'd offer free Windows licenses to all K-12 education. Not that they are having a problem keeping users, but that would probably insure vast amounts of Users for Life.
I recently got two files at home... One is an Excel spreadsheet, the other is a Word file.
Here's how to extract the file and read the contents.
dd bs=137216 skip=1 if=1U_PentiumPrices.doc.pif of=1U_PentiumPrices.doc
The other file, I stripped off the infection in the same way, and opened the spreadsheet in Gnumeric.
Now, I didn't get Leonid Kushma's diary, nor George Bush's holiday book list. Nor Jacque Chirac's list of numbered Swiss bank accounts... I wish...
3. Honeypot's. Servers being used to find security risks wouldnt work very well if there were no security holes.
Well, a "benevolent virus" could only patch security holes that are already known. So you could still use test systems and honeypots to look for new security holes or new attack strategies.
4. Turf. You're a highly trained sysadmin who has spent most of a year setting up a system that runs so flawlessly that you can play Quake all day and NOT be missing any work. Do you really want someone else messing with it.
This I agree with. Computer systems are very diverse in configuration, and it is very difficult to design a completely automatic system to tune/update/improve a complicated set of subtly interacting programs (which is often only marginally stable). A "Mr. Fix-It" virus might fix a large percentage of systems, but might als screw up other, less standard systems.
I've run Debian 2.2 on a 486DX50 with 8MB of RAM -- X works, but I'd recommend a low-weight window manager (Blackbox, IceWM, TWM). You can do the base install from floppy, then complete the install using apt-get and/or dselect via FTP/HTTP/NFS.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
reminds me of the old rhyme, "For want of a nail, a shoe was lost, for want of a shoe a horse was lost, for want of a horse a skirmish was lost, etc etc etc, all for want of a nail"
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
It has been pointed out however, that Kuchma would hardly have anything to fear from an e-zine like Ukrajinska Pravda, since very few have access to the Internet in Ukrain, and that it was unlikely that he had even heard of Georgy Gongadze.
It is, nevertheless, an issue to be alarmed by.
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
For the price of a stinking Network Associates Webshield operating in transparent mode at the router of each ISP, they could filter out most viruses. They could route port 25 traffic through one of these babies and things might be rosier. I chalk that up to lazy/overworked/ignorant admins not caring/able/knowing to put such a system in place. We have a webshield and the only time we saw SirCam was because we had to take it out of the loop for some quick maintenance; the one guy that go it knew not to open it and deleted it.
Of course, security is a process so no amount of filtering is going to keep 100% out. If you still get that one virus headed for the guy in the company with Outlook and who blindly opens every message that comes at him, then you've still got a cultural problem to cure.
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
But: whining about it is not going to help. What I ask you -- as users, developers, fans, whatever -- what can we do to ensure this never happens again?
____________________________
2*b || !(2*b) is a tautology
Outlook viruses are, in my opinion, the responsibility of (1) Mictosoft, and (2) the Outlook user, who should be trained not to open crap that comes from random people with attachments! I really don't see how an ISP can help. (Of course, helpdesk people need to know about it, etc.)
sulli
RTFJ.
Eudora is also affected by many Outlook virii.
--
There is an article on ZDNET about Microsoft giving away the equivalent of AU$65,000(U.S. $32,500) for 150 packs of Windows 95 and 10 refurbished computers .
If the Win95 licence is worth $250, then that makes the "refurbished" PC worth over $2600. I can buy new machines for less than that! So I think my logic is incorrect. The RRP for Win95 must be around $400. Is it worth that much?
MS PR: "No, we're not a big, bad company, we're trying to reach these poor rural areas and be able to teach them the computer skills that will make the global players... yada yada yada..."
While they're not only getting positive spin for this, but creating an ENTIRE country of solely MS trained computer users... not to mention that if most of these places don't have internet (and slashdot) access (like it says in the article), they'll have very little clue that there are other OSes out there, let alone be able to download one of them...
The whole "anonymous donation" of computers to "every home with children" to Crete that's going on right now, smells like a MS marketing scheme in the making...
Just my 0.02
So when you boil it down, is it cheaper to pay for training the 100's or 1000's that would need it in the ways of linuxy goodness, or simply purchase windows and click yes when asked until the systems are deployed? I think the Mexican School Boards have realized that it is the former, though I suspect it was with the assistance of MS marketting and sales that made it clear to them. PS, Brian Farina can bite my ass!
Suggestion to all blackhats: What's clearly needed is an Outlook virus that appends itself to a random document and emails it as an attachment to everybody in your address book AND to president@whitehouse.gov. Bonus points if W clicks on one of the attachments.
Sadly, that's the most realistic thing I've read in this thread. We'll probably see a new /. post in a month describing Microsoft's crackdown on the Mexican school system. And right or wrong, Microsoft has to hate the negative publicity they'll get for cracking down on the poor Mexican schoolchildren (but not as much as they love money, so you know they'll go for it.)
He's not a particularly coherent or refined speaker, but I agree with his policies. I prefer a poor speaker with good policies (has a hard time selling his good ideas) to a good speaker with bad policies (has an easy time selling bad ideas).
Biased against who? It's a statement of fact. Even Mexicans who were born and lived here all their life accept it as reality. I don't have a personal grudge against the Mexican government or any reason to flame it...
I was originally in "paradise" when I moved to Mexico because I was able to "tune out" all the political BS from back in the States. Then you live in a country for a few years and the issues of that country actually start bothering you, especially when they affect you in your daily living.
And I say that with having a few years of living in Mexico under my belt.
Out of curiosity, what do you do in Mexico? Do you work for a Mexican company? Do you pay taxes to Mexico? To what extent have you had to deal with the government?
If you haven't seen this, it almost makes me wonder if a company brought you to Mexico and is taking care of all the political/governmental BS for you. Or perhaps you live in some tourist city such as Cancun or Acapulco where these types of problems aren't as apparent...
I find that the corruption situation has been improving significatly over the past 5 years.
This may be. But the national TV network (TZAzteca) reported just in the last month that at a minimum 10% of the GDP is wasted on bribes and payoffs to government officals. And that doesn't even count what is actually robbed from government coffers.
That said, I don't know exactly where you live, and conditions are different from area to area.
Monterrey. Supposedly the closest thing to a "first world" city in Mexico (with the possible exception of artificially beautified resort cities).
As I said in my previous post though, I think it has more to do with a lack of people trained in Linux than with lining a politician's pocket with $$$.
Have you visited universities in Mexico? There are rooms full of classic computer nerds that go there just to play with the computers. I'm talking Unix-style computers. I can assure you, there's no lack of trained people. In fact, there's an over-abundance of self-trained people--who are usually the best kind of technical people.
In any case, perhaps we can give the politicians the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps no-one is lining their pockets. But it doesn't change the fact that the decision, at best, is based on their preference to spend $5 on something they can touch rather than $1 on somebody they can hire. That's just in the culture, and I honestly think it comes from the corruption.
A company I worked at in Mexico got caught in a BSA audit. They found lots of pirate copies because that's what companies in Mexico do software-wise.
So at the end of the day the deal was a certain NUMBER of computers were identified as having pirated software. The company was allowed to choose which ones. Those computers were "secured" with a legal sticker over the power buttons that could not be legally broken until the requisite number of software licenses were purchased.
So, the company just "chose" to have them secure all their old 386 machines that they were going to get rid of anyway. They then stuck them in storage in the basement and purchased the new computers they were going to buy anyway... but they never broke the stickers on the "secured" computers--and never purchased the "required" licenses. Problem solved.
Organizations in Mexico, for some reason, would rather spend $5 on hardware/software than $1 on human resources. Perhaps it's because there's so much corruption everywhere that no-one trusts their employees to do their job and to do it honestly. Then again, can you blame them when a CS graduate might earn US$1000/month...
Believe me, the reason they went with Windows is because they'd rather pay Windows people US$800/month rather than paying Linux people US$1000/month, even if it means having to spend millions of dollars on Windows license. And, of course, some politicians will probably be taking a good part of that $124 million to their personal bank accounts.
Mexico is a wonderful country, but it's very frustrating to live here and see the incompetence and corruption in decision-making. Believe me, it makes American politics and decision-making seem PURE and reasonable in comparison. Heck, even Democrats sound coherent after witnessing the absurdities and abuses that go on down here--and for a Democrat to sound coherent ought to give you an idea of how bad things are down here.
Anyway, this isn't a blow against Linux. It's about par for the course in terms of Mexican political decision-making.
PS--For what it's worth, I can't really see the government actually paying for all the licenses anyway. They'll probably set aside $20 million for licenses, buy one license, and the politicians will keep the rest.
Did you make install as root? If not, you don't have the permission to copy to /usr, etc.
My other car is first.
The punchline was that it wouldn't even uninstall from Add/Remove Programs. I had to reinstall it just to uninstall it nicely.
I've installed Morpheus from musiccity.com, and I'm running Ad-Aware again. Wonder if this'll turn out any differently...
(Side note, damn if Morpheus doesn't look almost exactly like Kazaa.)
¦ ©® ±
I was sent a file that asked me for advice but it was filtered and thus deleted, so no copy for me. Can anyone help me in learning more about it?
The Lottery:
"Not my manner of thinking but the manner of thinking of others has been the source of my unhappiness." - M
Since you post as ACoward, my first impulse is to ignore you and wait for you to be modded down. But here's the deal: you (presumably) and I (most assuredly) actually pay attention to the screens which appear after each click of the "Next" button. For us, then, that's not a problem. What is an issue is the vast majority (care to argue this point?) of windoze users, many of whom are no more than kids, who simply click "next" until a program installs. Yet I believe that most of these people wouldn't want anything to do with some of the spyware which comes with kaZaa.
As for the checkboxes option, how many pieces of software (any commercial word processing app, for example) have you installed which had such a checkbox window with about ten options, some of which you didn't know too much about, and you accepted because that's the default install. Face it, it should be a reasonable expectation that when you install a piece of software advertised to perform a given task, that software isn't going to do a number of completely unrelated tasks which have the further effect of telling a complete stranger what websites you choose to browse?
Kill Smart Tags:
political_news.c: warning: comparison is always true due to limited range of data type
It is definately getting interesting on the discussion thread mentioned at the top of this article. I think the kakaA folks are now realizing just how badly they have screwed up :)
Kill Smart Tags:
political_news.c: warning: comparison is always true due to limited range of data type
I mean, at least BearShare practices disclosure when it wants to install garbage on your machine. And (although I've never felt the need to bother with this one) I'm sure that if you complained to BearShare folks, you'd get a more coherent response than "How dare you! ... blah blah advertisments and buisness..." OK, maybe the writer wasn't a native speaker of English, but I mean, come on. When I deal with anyone, even via email, I at least attempt to make an effort to sound and act like a professional (which, if you met me, is by no means assured). These guys look like a bunch of baked s'kiddies and halfwit marketers to me. If they aren't, then their behavior needs to adapt to what are really reasonable expectations from the consumer which aren't that hard to meet. Picking adware more carefully and clearly stating in the installation what each program is, and why it is installed would be a good start.
Kill Smart Tags:
political_news.c: warning: comparison is always true due to limited range of data type
Anyways, after some discussion, linux turns out to be more expensive for us to use than windows. Why? Because we're a small company. The tech guys there (myself included) double as both programmers and system administrators. All of us know windows inside and out just by using it for years. For upgrades, windows is trivial to upgrade.
Linux is a different story. We all also know how to use linux - but none of us are expert admins at it. We would need to hire a linux sysadmin to be safe and ensure it was configured correctly (yes kids, linux is easily hacked too if not configured right) I've never known a linux sysadmin who worked for cheap. So we spent a couple grand going for a windows machine and setup, and saved ourselves several thousand dollars in the salary we would need to pay someone to maintain and secure the linux setup.
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but one of the main ones. Another reason was we develop software for the financial services industry, which uses windows far, far more than they use linux.
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Despite the do-good superhero aspect of hole patching virii, they will be looked upon as being more dangerous than harmful worms for a few reasons:
1. Bandwidth. The issue with the ILoveYou virus wasnt that itd did anything particularly malicious but that it ate bandwidth on mailservers. A 'good virus' would have to carry enough information with it to know what patches to apply or require a server to check in with to acess a database/list of patches.
2. Special circumstances. For example, a company is testing a secure driver for windows filesharing (samba) and NEEDS to have port 138 open on its server as part of a test. A patch virus would see that as a drastic security risk and close the port, royally screwing up a beta test.
3. Honeypot's. Servers being used to find security risks wouldnt work very well if there were no security holes.
4. Turf. You're a highly trained sysadmin who has spent most of a year setting up a system that runs so flawlessly that you can play Quake all day and NOT be missing any work. Do you really want someone else messing with it.
5. Common courtesy. Pointing out faults is not a good way to help people. Do it on the street and you'd get your ass kicked.
Thats all i can think of. I've done waht i can to create situations that give you the basic idea.
Is there a term for 'good' virii yet? Perhaps something likening it to a digestive bacteria.
I like the idea of having one worm for an individual hole that needs patched, but how many holes are there in any OS? I hear of at least one major windows hole each month and linux poses a different risk because of the numerous customized versions. There are many more problems to be worked out such as how will the bandwidth problem be minimized? Scanning for uninfected machines while done with good intentions is still scanning and most base installs of firewalls will halt this.
I understand why a vaccine would be a good thing, but in general it would be difficult to install and would not be accepted. The community that slashdot represents would be the first to lash out at such an action.
Despite the benefits, only the users who aren't likely to install patches in the first place would like it. Those who would use patches would resent thier loss of choice and control.
WHOA! . This would never work on the internet at large, but what about mid and large networks/intranets with relatively homoogenous systems. A sysadmin of these wouldn't have to send his interns out to apply pathces manually, just send out a vaccine worm. Updating the major servers might take some hands on work, but the hundreds of NT and X workstations in the cube farms could be patched very quickly.
Kudos, maybe, to charter for warning users, but boos and hisses for they're horrible service. I feel this should be mentioned while they're name is up. And before people start looking to them for any service.
I live in Tennessee, and on my block you can't get DSL. So, cable was basically my only route. Problems from day one.
They refused to allow me to install the modem/NIC myself, and then I had to wait for 2 hours and guide the "tech" they sent over on how to install a NIC in my linux box. Second, they're POP server drops off the face of the earth every other day, and stays away for about 2 hours. (not to mention they seem to only send their mail queue every 45 minutes.)
It's obvious they have over-sold themselves to customers, and simply can't support they ones they already have.
I thought people should see what kind of experience a charter customer has before anyone considers them a "good" provider.
People like both Miguels work in big towns like Mexico City, but Mexico is a very big country and in many communities the chances of finding somebody computer-literate are close to nil (forget about Linux or UNIX, just somebody courageous enough to double click here and there knowing what is going on).
The UNAM (the univeristy you refer to) has more in common with any other University around the world than with the poor neighborhoods and communities that could benefit with the knowledge of people like Miguel de Icaza and others. Thes educated people have difficult choices to make: they either make a living working in a regular job (and keep in mind that salaries in Mexico are low in general) or they devote their time to improve the situation of Mexican schools earning less and as it can be seen, with little moral or political support. Thos guys trying to promote Linux are saints....
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
So you decided to pay thousands of dollars in licensing for a closed shop solution where the provider dictates how and when you update your software because you could not be bothered to dedicate 1 month to become reasonable proficient in Linux?
People: the most important asset of a company are yourselves, invest on that. Then choose the best tool to solve the problem.
To dismiss a posible solution just for ignorance is not a good idea, only the companies that are ready to try new things will survive difficult times.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Since when exactly has the BsA had any authority in Mexico?
It pisses me off when Americans think that their laws rule the world.
Ok...Ok...I don't think I'm a moron. I develop fairly complex web apps for a fortune 500 company (ok..windows based), but I'm not liking a lot of the things I'm reading about xp and such...so, I WANT to use linux. I mean I really do. So I installed Mandrake 8 this Monday night. Everything went great and the install was easily to par with windows. One problem. My aureal soundcard was not supported. My two isa soundcards gave me the same kind of problem. So...I installed RedHat 7.1. Not as pretty of an install...but still pretty good. My aureal card did not work, although it was supposed to under 6.1. But my ISA creative card did. /.configure...ok so far...then a make...ok...then a make install...errors all over the place...ends with an error 1.
Then, I brought up shockwave.com, my girls like to play games on nick jr. The flash movies played, but shockwave didn't. Man... So, codeweavers is releasing support for shockwave in a couple of weeks. That's good...hopefully. Used wine..., most of the installations are hacks. Don't work very much. I like the effort though.
Right now, I'm frustrated because I downloaded ksamba. I did a
I'm not complaining. I knew the entry level would be high.
I'm just saying that I understand these school's dilemma. It can be frustrating starting out.
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor
There is also a cultural issue involved. When your NT system is down for whatever reason, and you tell your managers, its perfectly OK, thats "normal downtime" that one sort of expects. When your Linux system is down for whatever reason, the managers become very nervous, and its "dammit we knew we shouldn't have let the techies go with Linux". NT downtime is OK, in capital letters, but any Linux downtime whatsoever is purely because Linux was some sort of "terrible choice".
It sucks, but thats how people think.
You would think this would be a goldmine of publicity to show what a success linux can be on the desktop...
;-)
I'm pretty surprised that none of the major linux distros have stepped up to the plate to help keep create a whole generation of Linux users in Mexico...
Or maybe there aren't enough spanish speaking Linux gurus?
Heck, even Democrats sound coherent after witnessing the absurdities and abuses that go on down here--and for a Democrat to sound coherent ought to give you an idea of how bad things are down here.
You actually find George W. Bush to be a coherent speaker?
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
I'll check out articles a little better next time.
Thanks for the reminder.
On the KaZaa thread, the first email which I get saying that my site had links which I did not put up myself will send me to an attorney to discuss what I can do to them along the lines of changing my content, including copyright infringment (I know that I'll have to put notices on the pages) and to see if defacing a website charges can be arranged along the lines of prosecuting them like the Code Red Worm writers could be prosecuted. The fact that things were done on the client side instead of the server side should not be relevant (IANAL).
And i'm sure someone could say the same for Windows Scripting Host
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
I just downloaded and installed ad-aware. That will teach them!
But I'm still a bit confused, and need some help. What exactly are the files that ad-aware installed along with itself? They're in c:\windows and they're called 'make_money_fast.exe' 'enlarge_your_penis.dll' 'lose_weight.vxd' 'herbal_viagra.com' 'send_all_your_data_to_our_company.vbs' and 'popup_x10.js', and they're set to run on startup...
Why not drop all executables at the server, and have the users zip them up to send through. That seems the answer here... block .exe, but don't block .zip and you're all set.
Before jumping on the first post, realize its merit, especially combined with yours.
put the what in the where?
Now, I swear I'm not trying to defend Microsoft on this, but this is NOT an Outlook virus. Do a little more research on the sircam worm, and you will find out that it will work at any address that it is sent to. The worm is a complete program in it self. It does not rely on Outlook to send mail for it, as the application has it's own SMTP server built in.
m @mm.html
Check out the following for more info on this really impressive... um I mean dangerous worm. http://sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sircam.wor
A lack of political support...in other words, free software has no money with which to grease officials and politicians. Sadly, even in the era of the PAN presidency, that is still how things work in Mexico, and it's not surprising Linux in schools didn't work...nobody was going to make any money off of it.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
It should be noted that the install program for KaZaA lets you choose what software to install. I merely unclick all of them. Not a big deal.
"Snootch to the noonch!"
I belong to the ______ generation.
Salon has a pretty good article on the whole parasite software thing. KaZaA figures prominently. There are some reasonable aspects of bundling such software, but it's ridiculuous to do so without a)allowing opt-out and b)clearly notifying users...
Buy Hex-Rated Stuff, fight the DMCA!
I run a small non-profit project for at-risk kids in a slum area in Rio de Janeiro state. We have a small Novell 3.11 network (legally licensed, even though the server does think we're in 1901) and running on a variety of ancient, often rebuilt hardware, ranging from 386-SX-16s to a 486-DX-120. The reason for such low-end hardware is very simple: money (or rather the lack of it).
I have been unable to find a Linux version with a GUI that runs on such low end boxes. Windows 3.1 runs on some, I have OS/2 2.1 on a 386 and Windows 98 on the 486-DX. I'm also using FreeGEM and homewritten VB/DOS software on most machines.
Does anybody know of a low-end Linux distribution (that will ideally install without needing a CD drive) with some sort of GUI and some useful application software that could be used for teaching purposes on such ancient hardware?
Maybe Linux couldn't be installed on some of the existing hardware in some Mexican schools for the reasons?
Comments anyone?
Just imagine a 486-100, 16MB ram, 300MB disk.
I can happily install Win95(the very first ones) plus Off97 (Word - main app) on it, with netscape and pegasus for some web and mail access. Sure, the performance won't be high, but it will work. No way you can get an X-Windows based office suite on that, and with p-200/32mb the difference in performance would be even more dramatic.
This is real, some schools _are_ that poorly equipped. I still have to setup such a system from time to time, and I work for an university .. (Bratislava, Slovakia, Eastern Europe).
While we have some 10-15% of such crappy machines and it's getting better all the time, I can imagine there are schools where such junk is 80-100% of their equippement.
At least according to this article published in March this year:
0 78598/ (Reforma, Spanish language)t ml (Wired, English language)
http://www.reforma.com/ciudad_de_mexico/articulo/
or
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,42456,00.h
Also, last I looked the Linux for Schools Project is pretty active, and I know there are equivalent projects around the world that are focusing on multilingualising stuff like this.
-Tristan.
Word Up! http://www.wordvault.org