The real story (in TFA's linked report) is the comparison to Linux distributions' 1-year security patch metrics, e.g. for RHEL4:
When rhel4ws shipped on February 15, 2005, there were 129 vulnerabilities already publicly disclosed in shipping components prior to general availability. On ship day, Red Hat issued 27 security advisories to address 64 of them.
During the first year of availability, Red Hat issued 183 security advisories/updates for rhel4ws. If limited to just Critical and Important issues, there were 88 released on 57 different days.
During the first year of availability, Red Hat fixed a total of 493 vulnerabilities in rhel4ws. If limited only to those vulnerabilities labeled Critical or Important by Red Hat, the number of vulnerabilities fixed is 214.
At the end of the first year period, there were 82 vulnerabilities disclosed but without a patch (that would later be addressed with different fixes and security advisories). Adding that to the fixed vulnerability count tells us that a total of 575 vulnerabilities were disclosed in RHEL4 components during the first year.
So... assuming RHEL4 has a much smaller installed base than Vista (let alone XP), what does this say about the security of enterprise Linux? What does it say about the worth of "quick" security metrics like patches in first release year?
In my opinion, here are the fixes and improvements ones that the general Windows population might actually care about:
Adds support for exFAT, a new file system supporting larger overall capacity and larger files, which will be used in Flash memory storage and consumer devices.
Enhances the MPEG-2 decoder to support content protection across a user accessible bus on Media Center systems configured with Digital Cable Tuner hardware. This also effectively enables higher levels of hardware decoder acceleration for commercial DVD playback on some hardware.
SP1 addresses issues many of the most common causes of crashes and hangs in Windows Vista, as reported by Windows Error Reporting. These include issues relating to Windows Calendar, Windows Media Player, and a number of drivers included with Windows Vista.
Improves power consumption when the display is not changing by allowing the processor to remain in its sleep state which consumes less energy.
Significantly improves the speed of moving a directory with many files underneath.
Improves performance over Windows Vista's current performance across the following scenarios1:
25% faster when copying files locally on the same disk on the same machine
45% faster when copying files from a remote non-Windows Vista system to a SP1 system
Improves responsiveness when doing many kinds of file or media manipulations. For example, with Windows Vista today, copying files after deleting a different set of files can make the copy operation take longer than needed. In SP1, the file copy time is the same as if no files were initially deleted.
Improves the time to read large images by approximately 50%.
Improves IE performance on certain Jscript intensive websites, bringing performance in line with previous IE releases.
Allows users and administrators using Network Diagnostics to solve the most common file sharing problems, not just network connection problems.
SP1 includes a number of changes which allow computer manufacturers and consumers to select a default desktop search program similar to the way they currently select defaults for third-party web browsers and media players. That means that in addition to the numerous ways a user could access a third party search solution in Windows Vista, they can now get to their preferred search results from additional entry points in the Start Menu and Explorer Windows in Windows Vista with SP1. 3rd party software vendors simply need to register their search application using the newly provided protocol in Windows Vista SP1 to enable these options for their customers.
UNC paths (\\computer\share\filepath) have worked for as long as LAN Manager networking has been built into Windows, and before that, as long as network redirectors were able to be loaded into DOS via TSR (Novell, Artisoft, etc.)
Apart from file dialogs, most of your argument is semantic. "Special" is your invented word for "not working the same as it does in UNIX". "Redirector" vs. "director", please. Look, it's doing the same thing as mount points and path resolution do in UNIX land.
I could argue that, if anything, it's confusing in UNIX land to see all devices (local and remote) rooted in the same hierarchy, because it breaks the physical local folders metaphor. At least in Windows (excluding DFS trickery), with a UNC path you immediately know the machine at which a path resolves and don't have to consult mount.
And where in any X11-based window manager is there a file dialog that lets me mount remote filesystems from within it (equivalent to Windows' "Map Network Drive"). There's not. Why? Because in UNIX, network files are "special" too.
Appeasing a small group of users who make up the majority of purchases and irritating a larger group who make only occasional purchases is not the way to go.
Your implication is that more users suffer than benefit. You said it yourself: it's a small group that is enjoying faster shipping. Mathematically, you can't screw everyone else. In fact, most everybody else gets the shipping they wanted in the first place.
Amazon's real secret? When you purchase something on Amazon, their delivery commitment is vague enough that you can be at the "back of the line" and still get your goods when promised.
Because true innovations in computer science and software development emerge at about 1/10th the rate at which the same old concepts are rehashed with shiny new names.
When you've overspent on hiring and capital expenditures quarter after quarter, it's a no brainer to see that it's cheaper to hire a bunch of young, cheap talent and send them around the world to get them all gung ho and Mouseketeer-y about working 80 hour weeks, than it is to hire senior product management with families and less mental plasticity who turn in mediocre-to-decent performance 9-5 at a $150k base (almost 2x what these APM's are getting).
So what if the APM's fuck up now and then, when your raw productivity is 4-5x that of "adult" talent, you can afford the occasional product airball.
And the reality is they probably even fuck up less.
Premier applications launching on the platform include "GlobalPoke", "iReallyReallyReallyLike", and the sure-to-entertain "Biggest Fucking Super Duper Wall Ever"
In chemistry, it's very common to see heat capacity expressed in terms of kilojoules per Kelvin (kJ / K).
I'd agree with your latter statement, but as long as I'm trolling, I'll point out that it was not technically the logical converse of your former statement but rather a wholly different proposition (1: "I have never seen 'k' and 'K' together in a single unit." vs. 2: "I have never seen an ambiguous 'k' or 'K'").
Slashdot Mirror
So ... assuming RHEL4 has a much smaller installed base than Vista (let alone XP), what does this say about the security of enterprise Linux? What does it say about the worth of "quick" security metrics like patches in first release year?
Duh, old news. How do you think Kansas happened in the first place?
Is that code for eating doughnuts? If so, I am a topology master.
A double Einstein ring AND it has a red-shift of z=0.6?
If it has a fire magic enchantment, that sucker is going to go for serious bucks on eBay.
In my opinion, here are the fixes and improvements ones that the general Windows population might actually care about:
Adds support for exFAT, a new file system supporting larger overall capacity and larger files, which will be used in Flash memory storage and consumer devices.
Enhances the MPEG-2 decoder to support content protection across a user accessible bus on Media Center systems configured with Digital Cable Tuner hardware. This also effectively enables higher levels of hardware decoder acceleration for commercial DVD playback on some hardware.
SP1 addresses issues many of the most common causes of crashes and hangs in Windows Vista, as reported by Windows Error Reporting. These include issues relating to Windows Calendar, Windows Media Player, and a number of drivers included with Windows Vista.
Improves power consumption when the display is not changing by allowing the processor to remain in its sleep state which consumes less energy.
Significantly improves the speed of moving a directory with many files underneath.
Improves performance over Windows Vista's current performance across the following scenarios1:
25% faster when copying files locally on the same disk on the same machine
45% faster when copying files from a remote non-Windows Vista system to a SP1 system
Improves responsiveness when doing many kinds of file or media manipulations. For example, with Windows Vista today, copying files after deleting a different set of files can make the copy operation take longer than needed. In SP1, the file copy time is the same as if no files were initially deleted.
Improves the time to read large images by approximately 50%.
Improves IE performance on certain Jscript intensive websites, bringing performance in line with previous IE releases.
Allows users and administrators using Network Diagnostics to solve the most common file sharing problems, not just network connection problems.
SP1 includes a number of changes which allow computer manufacturers and consumers to select a default desktop search program similar to the way they currently select defaults for third-party web browsers and media players. That means that in addition to the numerous ways a user could access a third party search solution in Windows Vista, they can now get to their preferred search results from additional entry points in the Start Menu and Explorer Windows in Windows Vista with SP1. 3rd party software vendors simply need to register their search application using the newly provided protocol in Windows Vista SP1 to enable these options for their customers.
I am a big fan of their screwdrivers work. My understanding is that they had a lot of influence over the design of the popular cammed cross tool.
I am the maintainer of Visicalc. This means war.
Think Visicalc 26 service pack 3 is going to import Multiplan files?
Think again, bitches.
Sure, it could, but given the face Google would lose, it seems unlikely they would suddenly pull it.
More likely, they would announce end-of-life months in advance and provide migration tools to popular alternatives.
Not to mention, you can always, well, download all your mail, documents, calendar items, etc.
UNC paths (\\computer\share\filepath) have worked for as long as LAN Manager networking has been built into Windows, and before that, as long as network redirectors were able to be loaded into DOS via TSR (Novell, Artisoft, etc.)
Apart from file dialogs, most of your argument is semantic. "Special" is your invented word for "not working the same as it does in UNIX". "Redirector" vs. "director", please. Look, it's doing the same thing as mount points and path resolution do in UNIX land.
I could argue that, if anything, it's confusing in UNIX land to see all devices (local and remote) rooted in the same hierarchy, because it breaks the physical local folders metaphor. At least in Windows (excluding DFS trickery), with a UNC path you immediately know the machine at which a path resolves and don't have to consult mount.
And where in any X11-based window manager is there a file dialog that lets me mount remote filesystems from within it (equivalent to Windows' "Map Network Drive"). There's not. Why? Because in UNIX, network files are "special" too.
Asterisk? The gall!
Can't we use the Genesis device to loserform a new production team?
Not using it.
Most In US Have False Sense of Security
There, fixed that for you.
Do you like apples???
I got her phone number, how do you like them apples???
There, fixed it for you.
Your implication is that more users suffer than benefit. You said it yourself: it's a small group that is enjoying faster shipping. Mathematically, you can't screw everyone else. In fact, most everybody else gets the shipping they wanted in the first place.
Amazon's real secret? When you purchase something on Amazon, their delivery commitment is vague enough that you can be at the "back of the line" and still get your goods when promised.
I always suspected a hidden meaning in Christopher Cross' 1980 prophecy, Ride Like the Wind.
The only question in my mind now is whether Michael McDonald was in on it.
In Soviet Russia, the Ritz is Putin on YOU.
From your perspective, what's the biggest public misconception about MySQL and what (if anything) is MySQL AB doing to correct it?
So his motives were transparent.
Because true innovations in computer science and software development emerge at about 1/10th the rate at which the same old concepts are rehashed with shiny new names.
Newsflash:
When you've overspent on hiring and capital expenditures quarter after quarter, it's a no brainer to see that it's cheaper to hire a bunch of young, cheap talent and send them around the world to get them all gung ho and Mouseketeer-y about working 80 hour weeks, than it is to hire senior product management with families and less mental plasticity who turn in mediocre-to-decent performance 9-5 at a $150k base (almost 2x what these APM's are getting).
So what if the APM's fuck up now and then, when your raw productivity is 4-5x that of "adult" talent, you can afford the occasional product airball.
And the reality is they probably even fuck up less.
Premier applications launching on the platform include "GlobalPoke", "iReallyReallyReallyLike", and the sure-to-entertain "Biggest Fucking Super Duper Wall Ever"
In chemistry, it's very common to see heat capacity expressed in terms of kilojoules per Kelvin (kJ / K).
I'd agree with your latter statement, but as long as I'm trolling, I'll point out that it was not technically the logical converse of your former statement but rather a wholly different proposition (1: "I have never seen 'k' and 'K' together in a single unit." vs. 2: "I have never seen an ambiguous 'k' or 'K'").
In Soviet Russia, it fails you!
Gives new meaning to, "but this one goes to 11"