what is the point of privacy [...] if you are dead.
Well, I think that Franklin implied something in that statement: you have to be willing to die to protect your freedoms. Don't forget he signed the declaration of independence and that was essentially the same as signing his own death warrant. After all, it made him essentially a traitor to the power-in-place at that moment.
His quote has to be seen in that context. These days nobody seems to want to die for freedom anymore and hence the freedom is taken away piecemeal...
Look, I'm not even American, but I do think I understand the historical context. I think that Benjamin Franklin was indeed a wise man and I am only a pinko-commie-euro-bastard.
I don't think you can follow that logic. Usually, when it's not a remote exploit, you can keep your system "as is", but if a remote one is found in a service that you use, you damn better patch.
Actually, I simply run "Run As" iexplore.exe and I'm done. It's a bit awkward at first but it does the job. The intgeration of IE in the OS did have some advantges.
Well, I've run into "Run As" problems too. Mainly when I want to install something and I donwloaded it as a regular user. I have my regular users setup with ACLs that exclude Admin. So I have to copy the installer to a directory that the admin has access to.
For deleting stuff, I really never had a problem.... I don't really see when that is an issue, but you can always give me an example. Perhaps I have a workaround.
Still strange that I need to patch my OpenBSD firewall when a new vulnerabilty shows up.... Oh, wait... doesn't that mean I just negated your claim? Computers need servicing: not because of the hardware, but because of the software....
I know. I see this every day: I'm a IT high school teacher (that quit, I will leave in July). Nobody seems to read error messages, nor do they listen to my recommendations. The job is utterly frustrating.
For exactly *one program*, out of a few bazillion.... On top of that it was a game! Frankly, I blame that one of the Game Developpers and not on the WinXP team.
It will further de-sensitize people to clicking "okay" whenever a fucking popup pops up. You want the warning boxes to be so rare that the user actually stops and thinks.
Look, it has not much to do with the discussion, but I'm a IT high school teacher right now. (I end in July, I don't want that crap anymore) Virtually all pupils click before they read. It's a matter of fact.
I agree on getting a Mac, but that is not what people will do. When I met my wife (a preschool teacher) she had a WinXP machine. I told her: "Why didn't you get a Mac, it would be perfect for you". The answer was simple: "I didn't know they existed until I met you..."
Mac are the solution... sure, but not if you don't know them.
Oh, is it sweeping the issue under a carpet? Is it really? NO IT IS NOT! A computer is sensitive equipement that needs adequate servicing, exactly like a car. The thing is that nobody seems to understand that!
Administrator access is something a normal user should not have. My wifes computer was spyware ridden machine until she met me. I'm the mechanic... I know how to fix it. Hey, I can't service my own car. I pay someone to do it. My wife would have had to pay for someone to secure her computer too! Except, such services do not exist.... (Not really, at least)
Installing an application is not something a normal user should do, and that is all I have to say. If you do not agree... then fine...
Your mommy has a Mac.... That's fine... but how Mircosoft has handled security, there is no way to go to the "Mac Way". My Mommy has a WinXP machine and she doesn't need any intervention either. Go figure... (Of course, that's partially because of the OpenBSD firewall and the obligation of useing Firefox)
My point was that the additional warning will add nothing. That is why I added the "Mechanic" part. People need an expert to service their machines. I'm the mechanic of my family and nobody has problems.
I have no idea... BUT... If you're running WinXP Pro, go to the folder where it is installed and give "Full" access rights to "Users". If that doesn't work, go into regedit (assuming XP Pro...otherwhise go to regedt32) and look for registry entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE related to your program. Grant them full access rights to "User" on that part of the tree. 99% of the programs I have encountered will work then. You could say that security is compromised because a normal user could kill the program. That is true, but the application programmers are to blame for that.
If you have XP Home, read up on cacls. Alas, in XP Home it is hard to configure access control on folders. For example: C:\> cacls C:\MyFolder\/T/E/G Users:F
RunAs does that pretty much for you. For example: I want to run Programs->Administrtive Tools->Computer Management. I navigate to that option, hold down shift and right-click and then I select "Run as". The system asks me my Administrator password and I don't have to log off.
This also works with Internet Explorer, which gives you pretty much access to the full file system... Including ACLs (if you run XP Pro... else you'll need to learn the cacls command on the command line) You can also invoke runas in the command line by the way...
Franky... Nobody is "Administrator" of the machine anymore? (Administrators Group is not enough) Really? So essentially, they reduced the "Administrators" groups to "Well, you can admin, but you have to know what you do, and we'll annoy the hell out fo you".
The whole point of Administrator is that you know what you do and you can Admin a machine securely. I know Joe Sixpack doesn't know how to, but doing this will put Admins all over the world in the place of "Limited User". In the end our Dear Joe Sixpack will just click and click until the task is done anyway. He will be frustrated and will get spyware anyway.
What we need is the equivalent of a Car Mechanic for administration. You call your mechanic and he'll do the maintenance for a fee. Frankly, it's the only way for home users.
Oh, and those that say that you can't run in Limited User on XP (as in the fine article is stated) are completely ignorant. I'm running Limited right now, and I have no problem. Granted, I have to set the ACLs on both directories and registry settings, but it's never been very hard. The only program I've never been able to run as non-admin is a game called "Children Of The Nile", and I still don't know how to run it as a Limited User. The user that needed it got the "Run As" option checked in the shortcut. Sure she has Admin access that way, but she's my sister and knows that she shouldn't run Admin.
No, all problems are just the cause of the legacy of poor security in the past. Nagging dialogboxes won't help.
I'm pretty sure many people would enjoy living in a totalitarian regime that protects everone from being offended or shocked.
Except that the step from being the offended person to being the offending person is really small... One always has to keep that in mind when whiching for a nanny state.
While there have been some progress in making the installation and use of FOSS OSes like Ubuntu easier and simpler, they still do not have the "click-click-click" ease of installation of popular proprietary OSes like Windows XP or Mac OS X. In addition, even after one successfully installs a FOSS OS on a computer, a user will typically have to deal with issues like lack of drivers, incompatibility with third party devices or difficulty in installing new programs or software packages
Has this guy ever installed Windows XP on a new bare computer? I don't think so... The first thing I have to do is to go and hunt for the diverse drivers for nearly every device that it has. Graphics, sound, wireless,....
Linux often supports everything out of the box, and what is not supported is, ehm... simply not supported because the specs of the devices are not available and thus the developpers that want to develop the drivers have to resort to reverse-engineering.
Sure, application installation is "harder" in a Linux environment, because it doesn't follow the "double-click-on-that-icon-and-press-next-next-nex t-finish" or even worse "insert-cd-and-automatically-run-a-program-that-mi ght-damage-your-computer" (see Sony Rootkit on Audio CD's...)
If we want it that easy, we have only one way to go, and that is the Apple way: drag an application in the "Application" folder and that is all you got to do for installation. The Windows way is actually not what you want...
He is just confusing two technologies. He is not thinking of Eclipse as the IDE, but he's thinking of the toolkit that handles Eclipes GUI. That toolkit is called SWT and is a really good alternative to Swing.
I don't think he meant to say that Eclipse helps with the exception "problem" (which really isn't a big problem: good Java programs use exceptions only when necessary). For that he referred to other programming languages.
A college education is now REQUIRED to make a basic living wage in the vast majority of areas, let alone save a little bit to fund the launch of your own business.
Is this really true? Look, I've got a CS degree and I started working in december 1998. (A few months after I got my degree) I did well, up until now just because I made a horrible career choice a about two years ago. (But that is an entirely different story)
However, consider this anecdotal evidence:
My brother is a bus driver at a private company (a public bus driver earns a lot more here). He has pretty much the education level of junior high. Not that he's dumb, he just has non-academic abilities... When he started at the bus company, he earned as much as I did with a university degree in 1998. Sure, inflation and stuff counts, but I wouldn't say that he is baldy paid for someone with pretty much no education.
My father in law has the equivalent of high school diploma. He also learnt metalworking. (Which is non-college-level!) He now has a successful metal working company with over 20 employees. I probably do not have to point out that he makes waaaaay more than I will ever make as a software engineer
The uncles of my wife all have the equivalent of high school diplomas. They all learnt carpenting. (Which is also non-college-level!) They all work in the family company and you have no idea how much you actually have to pay a real carpenter for custom made furniture. Sure, people shop at IKEA, but lots of people want exclusive stuff and are willing to pay for it. (They provided, for example, a custom-made 12 meter table for a castle in Scotland) Did I mention that they drive BMWs and Jaguars? At least one of them has a house that's pretty much the equivalent of a small mansion.
Sure, this doesn't prove anything, but saying that you need a college education to make a decent living is untrue. Knowing a trade and being good at is pretty much as good (if not better) than having a college education.
If I have kids and one of them decides to become a mechanic or a carpenter, I'm sure as hell going to encourage him/her.
Slashdot Mirror
It's "Sieg Heil"... *sigh*
Just patent it... You'll be fine.
I thought of including that theory in my post, but I didn't want it to be even more lame than it already is ;-)
Well, I think that Franklin implied something in that statement: you have to be willing to die to protect your freedoms. Don't forget he signed the declaration of independence and that was essentially the same as signing his own death warrant. After all, it made him essentially a traitor to the power-in-place at that moment.
His quote has to be seen in that context. These days nobody seems to want to die for freedom anymore and hence the freedom is taken away piecemeal...
Look, I'm not even American, but I do think I understand the historical context. I think that Benjamin Franklin was indeed a wise man and I am only a pinko-commie-euro-bastard.
Benjamin Franklin must be spinning in his grave...
I don't think you can follow that logic. Usually, when it's not a remote exploit, you can keep your system "as is", but if a remote one is found in a service that you use, you damn better patch.
You're not the only one, but of course I may also be a sick bastard.
Actually, I simply run "Run As" iexplore.exe and I'm done. It's a bit awkward at first but it does the job.
The intgeration of IE in the OS did have some advantges.
The problem is that most users do not understand that computer needs a competent person to manage them.
I had a iBook once.... I was the happiest user ever. It died. I'd still recommend Macs to anyone who asked, but most poeople do not ask me.
For deleting stuff, I really never had a problem.... I don't really see when that is an issue, but you can always give me an example. Perhaps I have a workaround.
Still strange that I need to patch my OpenBSD firewall when a new vulnerabilty shows up.... Oh, wait... doesn't that mean I just negated your claim? Computers need servicing: not because of the hardware, but because of the software....
I know. I see this every day: I'm a IT high school teacher (that quit, I will leave in July). Nobody seems to read error messages, nor do they listen to my recommendations. The job is utterly frustrating.
For exactly *one program*, out of a few bazillion.... On top of that it was a game! Frankly, I blame that one of the Game Developpers and not on the WinXP team.
Look, it has not much to do with the discussion, but I'm a IT high school teacher right now. (I end in July, I don't want that crap anymore) Virtually all pupils click before they read. It's a matter of fact.
I agree on getting a Mac, but that is not what people will do. When I met my wife (a preschool teacher) she had a WinXP machine. I told her: "Why didn't you get a Mac, it would be perfect for you". The answer was simple: "I didn't know they existed until I met you..."
Mac are the solution... sure, but not if you don't know them.
Thank you. I didn't know that.
Yeah, I prefer chmod and chown too... I did not invent ACLs, but at least I know how they work.
Administrator access is something a normal user should not have. My wifes computer was spyware ridden machine until she met me. I'm the mechanic... I know how to fix it. Hey, I can't service my own car. I pay someone to do it. My wife would have had to pay for someone to secure her computer too! Except, such services do not exist.... (Not really, at least)
Installing an application is not something a normal user should do, and that is all I have to say. If you do not agree... then fine...
Your mommy has a Mac.... That's fine... but how Mircosoft has handled security, there is no way to go to the "Mac Way". My Mommy has a WinXP machine and she doesn't need any intervention either. Go figure... (Of course, that's partially because of the OpenBSD firewall and the obligation of useing Firefox)
The additional prompts do nothing.
Damn, slashdot is getting a MS-fanboy club.
If you have XP Home, read up on cacls. Alas, in XP Home it is hard to configure access control on folders. /T /E /G Users:F
For example:
C:\> cacls C:\MyFolder\
This also works with Internet Explorer, which gives you pretty much access to the full file system... Including ACLs (if you run XP Pro... else you'll need to learn the cacls command on the command line)
You can also invoke runas in the command line by the way...
The whole point of Administrator is that you know what you do and you can Admin a machine securely. I know Joe Sixpack doesn't know how to, but doing this will put Admins all over the world in the place of "Limited User". In the end our Dear Joe Sixpack will just click and click until the task is done anyway. He will be frustrated and will get spyware anyway.
What we need is the equivalent of a Car Mechanic for administration. You call your mechanic and he'll do the maintenance for a fee. Frankly, it's the only way for home users.
Oh, and those that say that you can't run in Limited User on XP (as in the fine article is stated) are completely ignorant. I'm running Limited right now, and I have no problem. Granted, I have to set the ACLs on both directories and registry settings, but it's never been very hard. The only program I've never been able to run as non-admin is a game called "Children Of The Nile", and I still don't know how to run it as a Limited User. The user that needed it got the "Run As" option checked in the shortcut. Sure she has Admin access that way, but she's my sister and knows that she shouldn't run Admin.
No, all problems are just the cause of the legacy of poor security in the past. Nagging dialogboxes won't help.
Except that the step from being the offended person to being the offending person is really small... One always has to keep that in mind when whiching for a nanny state.
[See subject]
Has this guy ever installed Windows XP on a new bare computer? I don't think so... The first thing I have to do is to go and hunt for the diverse drivers for nearly every device that it has. Graphics, sound, wireless,....
Linux often supports everything out of the box, and what is not supported is, ehm... simply not supported because the specs of the devices are not available and thus the developpers that want to develop the drivers have to resort to reverse-engineering.
Sure, application installation is "harder" in a Linux environment, because it doesn't follow the "double-click-on-that-icon-and-press-next-next-nex t-finish" or even worse "insert-cd-and-automatically-run-a-program-that-mi ght-damage-your-computer" (see Sony Rootkit on Audio CD's...)
If we want it that easy, we have only one way to go, and that is the Apple way: drag an application in the "Application" folder and that is all you got to do for installation. The Windows way is actually not what you want...
I don't think he meant to say that Eclipse helps with the exception "problem" (which really isn't a big problem: good Java programs use exceptions only when necessary). For that he referred to other programming languages.
Is this really true? Look, I've got a CS degree and I started working in december 1998. (A few months after I got my degree) I did well, up until now just because I made a horrible career choice a about two years ago. (But that is an entirely different story)
However, consider this anecdotal evidence:
Sure, this doesn't prove anything, but saying that you need a college education to make a decent living is untrue. Knowing a trade and being good at is pretty much as good (if not better) than having a college education.
If I have kids and one of them decides to become a mechanic or a carpenter, I'm sure as hell going to encourage him/her.