"I asked a few people involved in solving the problems of e-mail what would be involved in fixing it. This put them in an awkward position of conflict; after all, spam-filtering vendors and other security companies make their living because these problems exist. "
There are some very powerful entities that have a vested interest in keeping things they way they are today. I agree that many of these protocols are being used in ways and volumes never intended by their creators, and a redesign would be highly desirable. But with so many interests involved, how would such an endeavor ever get off the ground???
Since the EULA is a legally binding document that the user is entering into willfully, an OS restriction could easily be a part of that. (Now, whether shrinkwrap license agreements with more fine print then a mortgage are a good idea, that's another story)
From Microsoft's point of view, are they just supposed to take a few techies word for it that FoxPro "works" under WINE? Let's say, for example, that a bug in FoxPro is found that represents a security risk - MS can use Windows Update and other means to get a patch out to their Windows-based customers, but what do they do for the WINE-rs? That's a loose end that I certainly wouldn't want to deal with...
Control, however, is extremely important when it comes to brand reputation, and is perfectly justifiable in many cases. Consider a software vendor who has released a product specifically for a certain class of operating systems. It would be entirely reasonable for them to restrict the use of that application (via the EULA) to avoid deployment on other OS's, due to the unpredictable issues that will pop up.
Now, there may well be another decision process about whether to include more operating systems within the product's scope - this goes back to the level of user demand and the resources it would take to make this happen (cost/benefit). As pertains to this issue, would expanding FoxPro to run under WINE be a good business decision for Microsoft? Probably not - most of those customers are looking for FoxPro itself, not the operating system - which means they'd pick Windows as a default and probably not complain too much because it's FoxPro that they're familiar with and want.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Windows, be default, allows the size of the page file to fluctuate as needed. One of the performance tips I saw recently at MaximumPC was to set this to a constant to avoid unnecessary HD work...
Part of that is the reality of working in a publicly traded company. Major business events like a product release wouldn't be told to general personnel until the public has been informed also. It's a basic protection against insider trading, as well as a preventitive measure against information leaks...
That's a good point, actually - they can claim that the NY Times website makes money, for example, but if it was a truly standalone operation they wouldn't have all that content available for free, would they? A web-only newspaper gives a more complete picture - and it still ain't pretty...
Venture Capitalists buying into the company is exactly how Fanning would have made his lucre. If the founders start with 100% of the company and sell off an interest (60%?) to others for $X million, they walk away with a tidy sum. Greedy Bastards? More like engines of progress, but who wants to split hairs...
One solution is not to carry your SS card in your wallet. What do you really need it for on a daily basis??? That applies to many other cards as well - occasionally I go through my wallet and trim out the stuff that I really don't need on a regular basis...
Seriously? It's frustration with the current mishmash of PIN's, passwords, and other secret handshakes. For techies, keeping track of a dozen or more passwords may be doable, but for end users this becomes an unmanageable mess - so they end up using the same password for everything, and are glad to inform a helpful techie of this. It's a passive-aggressive way of expressing their frustration...
Is it right? Of course not, but it's a sign that further development is needed to make security more user-friendly going forward.
Then I'm surprised not hear among these recommendations that such equipment and gear be required for each mission. After all, they didn't always pack seven astronauts in each mission. At what point does making room for additional crew reduce space for safety-related material???
So they'll do more thorough inspections before reentry - but they still haven't addressed the issue of what to do if they actually find something wrong. As I understand it, there is no capacity to perform such repair work while in orbit.
So again, what do they do if they find a problem? Just upload an MP3 of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"???
It would be interesting to determine how many/. stories that have NOTHING to do with Linux end up with Linux being mentioned within the comments. My guess is that it's somewhere between 99.999 and 99.9999%...
I could easily see charging an hourly rate for techs around $125, which would translate to $250K/year. Remember, from the corporate perspective, you've got to add in benefits, infrastructure costs (office space, equipment, etc.) and overhead while backing out training, admin, sick and vacation time from billable hours. So for a techie, you might have to cover $150,000 in total employee costs across something like 1500 billable hours a year. That puts you at the $100 per hour mark - of course, your mileage may vary...
"I should also point out that I do some work that fits into the traditional academic computer science framework. But you won't read about that on Slashdot. "
That's too bad, really - I'm sure something like that could squeeze out a couple Evil Bit dupes or the odd M$ bug...
If you have a Help Desk application that tracks hours related to working on this mess, you (and other customers) should ask for a reduction in your support costs to compensate for all the non-value added work your internal staff is having to do. Ideally, this sort of clause should be built into a purchase up front, and it would have to start with large customers, but MS (and other vendors) need to face some serious financial consequences for blunders like this...
That's very typical for a prosecuter - given the political nature of their job, "get tough on criminals" talk is about all they know. In terms of motivating factors (i.e. upcoming elections and prospects for higher office), there's very little to get prosecuters thinking about things like rehabilitation.
Slashdot Mirror
There are some very powerful entities that have a vested interest in keeping things they way they are today. I agree that many of these protocols are being used in ways and volumes never intended by their creators, and a redesign would be highly desirable. But with so many interests involved, how would such an endeavor ever get off the ground???
From Microsoft's point of view, are they just supposed to take a few techies word for it that FoxPro "works" under WINE? Let's say, for example, that a bug in FoxPro is found that represents a security risk - MS can use Windows Update and other means to get a patch out to their Windows-based customers, but what do they do for the WINE-rs? That's a loose end that I certainly wouldn't want to deal with...
Now, there may well be another decision process about whether to include more operating systems within the product's scope - this goes back to the level of user demand and the resources it would take to make this happen (cost/benefit). As pertains to this issue, would expanding FoxPro to run under WINE be a good business decision for Microsoft? Probably not - most of those customers are looking for FoxPro itself, not the operating system - which means they'd pick Windows as a default and probably not complain too much because it's FoxPro that they're familiar with and want.
err... Arkansas, y'all.
I'm sure he'll send Deputy Dawg around to rustle up the perpetrators.
That would work just fine, as long as you ride a bike down a cobblestone road...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Windows, be default, allows the size of the page file to fluctuate as needed. One of the performance tips I saw recently at MaximumPC was to set this to a constant to avoid unnecessary HD work...
Part of that is the reality of working in a publicly traded company. Major business events like a product release wouldn't be told to general personnel until the public has been informed also. It's a basic protection against insider trading, as well as a preventitive measure against information leaks...
dude, it's time to trade in that TRS-80!
So am I supposed to smoke clove cigarettes and snap my fingers to this???
That's a good point, actually - they can claim that the NY Times website makes money, for example, but if it was a truly standalone operation they wouldn't have all that content available for free, would they? A web-only newspaper gives a more complete picture - and it still ain't pretty...
Feel better now?
Venture Capitalists buying into the company is exactly how Fanning would have made his lucre. If the founders start with 100% of the company and sell off an interest (60%?) to others for $X million, they walk away with a tidy sum. Greedy Bastards? More like engines of progress, but who wants to split hairs...
One solution is not to carry your SS card in your wallet. What do you really need it for on a daily basis??? That applies to many other cards as well - occasionally I go through my wallet and trim out the stuff that I really don't need on a regular basis...
The man doesn't have to be alive to start with, does he? That would loosen up the "safely" part and gimme a shortcut...
What's the old Pink Floyd song? "Point me at the Sky and Let It Fly..."
Is it right? Of course not, but it's a sign that further development is needed to make security more user-friendly going forward.
Then I'm surprised not hear among these recommendations that such equipment and gear be required for each mission. After all, they didn't always pack seven astronauts in each mission. At what point does making room for additional crew reduce space for safety-related material???
So again, what do they do if they find a problem? Just upload an MP3 of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"???
It would be interesting to determine how many /. stories that have NOTHING to do with Linux end up with Linux being mentioned within the comments. My guess is that it's somewhere between 99.999 and 99.9999%...
I could easily see charging an hourly rate for techs around $125, which would translate to $250K/year. Remember, from the corporate perspective, you've got to add in benefits, infrastructure costs (office space, equipment, etc.) and overhead while backing out training, admin, sick and vacation time from billable hours. So for a techie, you might have to cover $150,000 in total employee costs across something like 1500 billable hours a year. That puts you at the $100 per hour mark - of course, your mileage may vary...
That's too bad, really - I'm sure something like that could squeeze out a couple Evil Bit dupes or the odd M$ bug...
If you have a Help Desk application that tracks hours related to working on this mess, you (and other customers) should ask for a reduction in your support costs to compensate for all the non-value added work your internal staff is having to do. Ideally, this sort of clause should be built into a purchase up front, and it would have to start with large customers, but MS (and other vendors) need to face some serious financial consequences for blunders like this...
That's very typical for a prosecuter - given the political nature of their job, "get tough on criminals" talk is about all they know. In terms of motivating factors (i.e. upcoming elections and prospects for higher office), there's very little to get prosecuters thinking about things like rehabilitation.
Oh yeah, and a trash compacter like the one on the Death Star...