Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> __/ [ Mark Kent ] on Saturday 24 February 2007 07:47 \__
>
>> larry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <larry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>> You write the article like it's Apple's fault.
>>
>> It was very clear who had written what, there was no implication that
>> this was Apple's fault.
>>
>>> Though I agree this is
>>> a VERY bad move on any maker to affect anything other than the
>>> operation of thier softure, it was nost a case of Apple doing it. And
>>> such things already happen regularly on other platofrms (heck I recall
>>> cases where there was such logic bombs in Commodore 64 programs).
>>
>> No, but it does affect you if you have a Mac. I'm now going to have to
>> inform parents-in-law and my No1 son that their computers are vulnerable
>> to an attack from proprietary software, which they should avoid if they
>> can.
>>
>>>
>>> Someday sone not too bright software maker will produce something
>>> similar running on Linux that does the same thing, no real news here,
>>> Mac, Linux or otherwise.
>>>
>>
>> There is very real news here, this exists *now* for Apple Mac computers,
>> and should be avoided. OSX has done well for avoiding exploits and
>> vulnerabilities so far, but not, apparently, any more. Now the software
>> vendors /themselves/ are creating malware.
>>
>> I would say that this is a very strong argument indeed for using Linux,
>> and in particular, sticking with a well-known, safe distribution, such
>> as Debian or Ubuntu, say, or perhaps Red Hat, where there is *no such
>> risk*.
>
> When I read the Inquirer's title, I thought it was Apple. Then, as I read the
> item I realised that it wasn't. I then added the word "software" to the
> subject line, just before posting it. I think it wasn't enough to remove
> ambiguity though, but this wasn't deliberate.
>
> Then, as I saw some potential for ambiguity I added the remark about Open
> Source. Also had Skype's spyware in mind... it's still fresh in my mind...
>
I agree that at first blush it could look that way, but 2 or 3 seconds
of reading later and the position is clear. The *key* point, however,
is that this only affects Apple computers. Let me give an example, when
we talk about a Windows virus, does anything think that the Windows
development team wrote it? I doubt it. They know that there are
thousands of kiddies out there churning out exploits on a constant basis
- far more than Microsoft have employees, I'm sure.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
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