atw: Re: OT: MS & Spyware

John said
> Spyware is legitimate software that A USER HAS
> VOLUNTARILY INSTALLED. 
 
Some, perhaps, but lots of it gets installed by users visiting websites
written and maintained by people with more technical skill than moral
fibre.  Lots of it was installed on my PC without my knowledge or
consent and it has caused me considerable angst.  And I'm not sure I'd
call it 'legitimate software'.
> So now Microsoft has purchased one of the leading
> antispyware companies in the world.  They have issued
> its products to Windows users for free.
 
I had never heard of Giant before the Microsoft announcement, but maybe
that's because I found Lavasoft first.  But I'm cynical about the 'free'
status of Microsoft anti-spyware because I remember how Microsoft used
the same line to lock in a customer base for Microsoft Money.  Free for
the first release, then a small fee for an update, then a slightly
higher fee, and so on.  I'm sure you remember that.

> the biggest security hole in computing: the vast gap
> between a user's ears.
 
John is correct.  It's amazing how many people can't operate a
refrigerator correctly, yet they insist on being able to use a computer.
 You can't blame manufacturers for trying to meet the demand.  Where
John and I differ is our opinions of the way the computer industry goes
about its need to satisfy its customers.

> Unix operates on <what??> percentage of the world's
> desktop computers?  (I'll save you the trouble of
> looking it up: it's around five per cent.)
 
I'm not sure that's a valid argument.  We'd be better to debate the
relative difficulty of setting up a 286 AT running DOS 5.  It was
relatively unfriendly and garnered more respect than a current Windows
box because of its unfriendliness.  People took the trouble to learn
basic stuff about it.
 
I'm not saying that we should ditch GUIs - I'm saying that Microsoft
has engendered a view that bugs are OK and that Microsoft would prefer
to not fix bugs in its software.  That translates as Microsoft having a
cynical view of its customers.  Whether it's true or not, it's
unfortunate and will eventually be *very* expensive for Microsoft as
users take the options that are becoming available.
 
The X Window System was relatively bug-free when I last looked at it. 
And I have seen a completely untrained secretary install an X terminal
on a Unix box using only the manual for guidance.  The claim that the
desire for point-and-click software is the cause of the bugs just
doesn't hold water, I'm afraid.

> Microsoft has spent money to purchase a company they
> now have to staff and operate
 
Wasn't Giant staffed and operating when Microsoft bought it?  Won't
some of its operations be absorbed by Microsoft?  I'm confident the
price of the product will increase over time.  What Microsoft *really*
bought was some technology that its customers have been getting from
other vendors.  That would never do.
 
> users who have created a large industry problem by
> determinedly resisting any efforts to educate them or
> change their operating practices.
 
People resist change.  They have done so since the beginning of
recorded history.  The last twenty or so years have seen incredibly fast
change, and to push it along without expecting resistance is a bit
naive.  I'm sure that the good people at Microsoft know that.  Yet they
seem to be reducing their attempts to educate us: I noted the Microsoft
statement about the Help in the next OS and its suite of software - they
say it will be task-based (imagine that!) and that they will not
document all features.

But I disagree with both John and Steve: let's not pillory that Gates
chappie, because he might
introduce bugs in the anti-spyware software.  And we don't want bugs in
anti-bug software, thank you.
 
Allan

 

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