Wouldn't a much improved k-desktop or knome environment do the job? Usability should be about improving the users experience by making applications available and accessable to all - it should not be about providing root access!
Idealy, the user should not ever need to worry about access rights, or needing root access! A bad example of this is win XP Professional (as used in offices) - it provides the correct level of access to its normal users while retaining full access for admins - despite the fact that its based on windows OS it provides far more security, and an improved level of usability not seen in previous versions of NT, this is a perfect example of how security can be maintained, while usability in improved.
I must agree - Lop is by far one of the worst spyware/addware apps i have ever come accross!!! I remember back a few years ago (before i had a firewall) i removed Lop several times from my computer, but everytime i rebooted it would just download a new copy! Surely this cant be right!!
How is it that its a criminal offence for a hacker to upload BackOrifice on someones computer, when, on the other hand you have so called 'legitimate' companies using the same (or worse) techniques to install spyware on my computer without my knowledge.
In both cases the *same* basic principle are broken - unauthorised access to a computer that does not belong to you - This MUST the data protection act!
So, how do these companies get away with it? Answer, ask microsoft!! ActiveX allows the same 'hack' to be done legally IMHO. Im sure that it you look carefully at the activeX docs, you will find some clause that say something like "when you install ActiveX you are aregeeing to authorise/allow activeX developers to replace, and make changed to software stored on the PC"
Regards,
|r0|\|1c
O.k.
So you want to stop these bad apples from doing their stuff, so why are they telling us! Surely this publicty will just drive any idiot stupid enough to use free email services underground!
And anyway, I would think that anyone with the ordascity to be involed in such things (hosting child porn) would have ability enough to setup their own free mailserver - again, driving the whole thing further underground.
IMHO it is you, the people who ultimately drive the market any direction - take these two exaples.
Gamers choice
For years gamers bought fast intel based machines until one day AMD came on the scene - i thinks is now fair to say that a good percentage of the serious gaming commutity have now swapped their intel-based pc to the slightly faster, slightly cheaper AMD architecture. There was nothing intel could do except try and match AMDs performace. It is WE who chose AMD over intel for highspeed gaming applications, and there is nothing intel can do! (except maybe lower their prices, yeah right!) I recently swapped my intel P3 games PC for an AMD (MSI k7n2 Delta 400 ultra), cost me half the price of a intel P4, and that was WITH memory (256DDR duel ch.) and Pro (2400XP).
Linux/unix
Linux and Unix flavours have been run on various machine archies for may years, now the linux/unix commutity are asking of AMD what was asked of may companies in the begining 'support our archictecture'. The Lack of processor support for AMD cpu's in unix/linux (i386) is currently keeping us all using the slower, more expensive intel based hardware, only those of us with enough cash to 'waste' can afford a PPC or Sun workstation. This could all change the moment someone provides some decent support for AMD processors under *nix, and when it does, the nature of high speed, high end, unix/Linux servers will change - distributions like FreeBSD will ensure a full subset of tools are on hand to be able to build the most demanding servers that WILL rival anything intel has. I reitterate, this is OUR choice, we will choose intel or AMD, or what ever archie suites our needs, it is the industry that must change to meet our expectations.
My 2 cents...
Yeah, i suppose motherboards can be classed as a commitity, but i dont think that the Big boys like intel, and MSI, AMD.. realy Know what we want, or where this industry is going, they just give us what they think we want and let us make the final desision, and thats before they all play 'follow the leader' and saturate the market until the next 'big thing'.
Just like any other commodity, the market becomes saturated, then we, as consumers have more choice and better prices, and in this climate only those that can keep up with what we actually want will get the public vote!
In the UK we have may different brands of tea, as do many other contries. From memory i know i have many friends that prefer PG-Tips to one of the other brands - not because they are the biggest producer, or because they make the traditional 'round', and not so traditional 'piramid' shaped teabags, but because they like it, and they buy what they like!!! These days, i dont think it matters who makes the tea, or the motherboard for that matter, because there are so many to choose from, what matters is that you get the best tasting (for you), or best performance for your situation.
Regards,
|
Slashdot Mirror
Wouldn't a much improved k-desktop or knome environment do the job? Usability should be about improving the users experience by making applications available and accessable to all - it should not be about providing root access! Idealy, the user should not ever need to worry about access rights, or needing root access! A bad example of this is win XP Professional (as used in offices) - it provides the correct level of access to its normal users while retaining full access for admins - despite the fact that its based on windows OS it provides far more security, and an improved level of usability not seen in previous versions of NT, this is a perfect example of how security can be maintained, while usability in improved.
I must agree - Lop is by far one of the worst spyware/addware apps i have ever come accross!!! I remember back a few years ago (before i had a firewall) i removed Lop several times from my computer, but everytime i rebooted it would just download a new copy! Surely this cant be right!! How is it that its a criminal offence for a hacker to upload BackOrifice on someones computer, when, on the other hand you have so called 'legitimate' companies using the same (or worse) techniques to install spyware on my computer without my knowledge. In both cases the *same* basic principle are broken - unauthorised access to a computer that does not belong to you - This MUST the data protection act! So, how do these companies get away with it? Answer, ask microsoft!! ActiveX allows the same 'hack' to be done legally IMHO. Im sure that it you look carefully at the activeX docs, you will find some clause that say something like "when you install ActiveX you are aregeeing to authorise/allow activeX developers to replace, and make changed to software stored on the PC" Regards, |r0|\|1c
O.k. So you want to stop these bad apples from doing their stuff, so why are they telling us! Surely this publicty will just drive any idiot stupid enough to use free email services underground!
And anyway, I would think that anyone with the ordascity to be involed in such things (hosting child porn) would have ability enough to setup their own free mailserver - again, driving the whole thing further underground.
IMHO it is you, the people who ultimately drive the market any direction - take these two exaples.
Gamers choice
For years gamers bought fast intel based machines until one day AMD came on the scene - i thinks is now fair to say that a good percentage of the serious gaming commutity have now swapped their intel-based pc to the slightly faster, slightly cheaper AMD architecture. There was nothing intel could do except try and match AMDs performace. It is WE who chose AMD over intel for highspeed gaming applications, and there is nothing intel can do! (except maybe lower their prices, yeah right!) I recently swapped my intel P3 games PC for an AMD (MSI k7n2 Delta 400 ultra), cost me half the price of a intel P4, and that was WITH memory (256DDR duel ch.) and Pro (2400XP).
Linux/unix
Linux and Unix flavours have been run on various machine archies for may years, now the linux/unix commutity are asking of AMD what was asked of may companies in the begining 'support our archictecture'. The Lack of processor support for AMD cpu's in unix/linux (i386) is currently keeping us all using the slower, more expensive intel based hardware, only those of us with enough cash to 'waste' can afford a PPC or Sun workstation. This could all change the moment someone provides some decent support for AMD processors under *nix, and when it does, the nature of high speed, high end, unix/Linux servers will change - distributions like FreeBSD will ensure a full subset of tools are on hand to be able to build the most demanding servers that WILL rival anything intel has. I reitterate, this is OUR choice, we will choose intel or AMD, or what ever archie suites our needs, it is the industry that must change to meet our expectations.
My 2 cents...
Yeah, i suppose motherboards can be classed as a commitity, but i dont think that the Big boys like intel, and MSI, AMD.. realy Know what we want, or where this industry is going, they just give us what they think we want and let us make the final desision, and thats before they all play 'follow the leader' and saturate the market until the next 'big thing'.
Just like any other commodity, the market becomes saturated, then we, as consumers have more choice and better prices, and in this climate only those that can keep up with what we actually want will get the public vote!
In the UK we have may different brands of tea, as do many other contries. From memory i know i have many friends that prefer PG-Tips to one of the other brands - not because they are the biggest producer, or because they make the traditional 'round', and not so traditional 'piramid' shaped teabags, but because they like it, and they buy what they like!!! These days, i dont think it matters who makes the tea, or the motherboard for that matter, because there are so many to choose from, what matters is that you get the best tasting (for you), or best performance for your situation. Regards, |