« Bait and switch? | Main | Newsflash: Edwards beat Gephardt in Iowa »
February 13, 2004
More non-linear thinking
Once again, Dave Winer has no idea what he is talking about:
Everyone's so worried about the Microsoft source leak. "It could open new security holes!" they say. But check this out, the source for Linux, a popular Microsoft competitor, has always been available, and this is promoted by its advocates saying it makes Linux more secure, not less. More programmer eyeballs looking for bugs. Maybe some white-hat types will try to check in some fixes for Windows 2000? Stranger things have happened.
1. Microsoft will prosecute anyone found to be in posession of their source code. This immediately limits the pool of people who will be looking for this source code down to those who are willing to break the law. There may well be some who are so desparate to help Microsoft improve the security of their products that they are willing to break the law to do so, but I doubt it.
2. Since it's introduction, Linux has always been open source. It has always been peer reviewed. It was not suddenly made available overnight, without any planning or preparation. This sudden release of MS source leads to a race to find undiscovered bugs in code already in use, as opposed to the full, open review process new Linux code goes through before it is put into wide use. My bet? Hackers with ill intentions could beat those with good intentions this time.
3. Given Microsoft's track record, I think it is safe to say there are a lot of bugs. It should not take long for someone to find one and write a virus to exploit it - before Microsoft is even aware of the problem, or willing to admit it.
Posted by Mike at February 13, 2004 01:55 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.topdog08.com/cgi-bin/mt-trackback.cgi/278
Comments
Posted by: Rudy Kiesler at February 13, 2004 05:40 PM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)