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State of Colorado Calls Firefox Insecure, IE6 Safe
linuxkrn writes "The State of Colorado's Office of Technology (OIT) has set up a work skills website. The problem is that the site says 'DO NOT use FIREFOX or other Browsers besides IE. It has been decided that Mozilla based, non-IE browsers pose a security risk.' (Original emphasis from site.) If the leading IT agency for the State is making these uneducated claims, should the people worry about their other decisions?"
While it doesn't look like this is why Colorado is trying to discourage people form using FF, there are some big reasons why its difficult to securely deploy FF in organizations.
Namely, the fact that Mozilla *still*, for some amazing reason, refuses to release an official MSI version of Firefox. Even though its one of the most requested features/changes. Yes, I'm aware that there are a few third parties that repackage Firefox as an MSI. But if they ever want Firefox to be adopted by larger organizations they have to make it easy to deploy and administer an official version of Firefox. Without an MSI, there is no easy way to update Firefox on a large number of computers without going from computer to computer and logging in as an administrator. That's an unacceptable solution in most organizations (at least ones that have a clue and don't give all users local admin rights).
Every time you post an article on Slashdot, I kill a server. Think of the servers!
have an aura of being more secure than ie or microsoft, simply because they have been tested less than ie or microsoft, simply because they have less market penetration, and therefore less hackers aim their minds at firefox or mac than at ie or microsoft. in other words, ie and microsoft are more "battlehardened" than firefox or mac
if you were a general in a war, and you had to choose between two guns, and
gun #1: backfires and kills the gunman every 1,000 rounds, as proven by solid combat use
gun #2: backfires and kills the gunman every unknown number of rounds, unproven in combat use
you tend to choose gun #1. because you are a GENERAL, which is a type of bureaucrat, which is a person who is extremely conservative and careful. you are not the r&d department
this is the thinking of the bureaucrats in colorado, who, like all government figureheads, are extremely conservative careful and slow on the uptake. as they SHOULD be. it is not the job of government to suggest the less battle tested. that is your job
just make sure you have enough wisdom that you don't expect a bureaucrat to act like a progressive. sorry, not in the job description. you will nowhere on the face of this earth find a government mandarin who is risk taking and countercultural and daring in their thinking
therefore, the error is not in the official word of the state of colorado. the error is yours: expecting a government figurehead to be a progressive influence
Mod Parent up +1 insightful
"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget." -Thomas Szasz
Awesome. I'm watching Top Chef in NZ which is just about 1/3 of the way through season 5. And now you've exposed who the winner is. Thanks for spoiling it for me. Thanks alot, jerk.
...made you look, didn't you?
Not even Ballmer would have said that...