Re: Leon is missing, what should I do?

pete mack wrote:
Twisted wrote:
Installing vista beta 2, so kind of busy right now. :)

Are you insane? Microsoft's *release* software isn't exactly reliable
or secure.

That's just not true anymore. Since Gate's security push a few years
back, MS has got a lot more reliable. (Yes, I remember the 42 day hard
crash, that wasn't detected because the system was never stable that
long. That is no longer operative.)

I have problems with MS, but stability of recent systems isn't one of
them.

Really. It's still one of mine -- I have to reboot every couple days
here with XP SP2. OK, maybe the OS itself isn't the problem, but
Explorer, being the system shell and closely linked with the
basically-unremovable Internet Exploder of antitrust suit fame,
definitely is if the OS itself is not, because I only need to run
Explorer to reproduce this one. Any substantial work with photos or
graphics, categorizing, moving, previewing, and thumbnailing leaks --
no, *hemmorhages* memory, to the tune of 300MB per few hours of
substantive activity. The machine is currently showing about a 2-day
uptime and an Explorer process size exceeding 250MB. I've seen it bloat
up to nearly a gig in under a day sometimes. And that's just one
problem. Add incessant updates that invariably require a reboot. Each
of those counts the same as a system crash as far as I'm concerned,
since installing it has the same effect just about, and not installing
it obviously carries its own risks. Usually there's one or two a month,
but there were tons in May, including a batch of three and another
batch of four. To top it off, a buggy update named in typical cryptic
fashion "KB913446" always shows as new and "critical" and nags me
periodically to download and install it -- even when I already have,
three times.
I've also had the system actually, genuinely, crash, not just an MS app
crash or leak memory or the OS want an update-and-reboot; the last time
I played through HL2 it locked the system up solid on several separate
occasions.

No, the stability and security and reliability of MS software does not
satisfy me one bit. Not when the OS still sometimes hangs, the system
shell you are forced to use leaks memory and has other bugs, and
frequent security updates are needed, necessitate reboots, and
themselves exhibit bugs. These days, I've heard they're actually
patching patches to the patches to the service pack that patched a
previous service pack that patched the OS.

And if Vista improves on this (which would probably require rewriting
everything from the ground up), it is at quite a price: your soul. OK,
your computer, which for people who depend on theirs for the
confidentiality of their communications, finances, and much more
besides and for mission-critical (to them) work, amounts to the same
magnitude of risk. Install a "trusted computing" operating system, and
you're basically saying "here, vendor -- I'll turn my back while you
install the OS, set the root password, install remote administration
tools, and give me a limited-access user account and a document to sign
that says third parties can use the remote administration tool and root
account more-or-less as they please, including the RIAA and anyone else
who might want to limit what I do with my computer in the interests of
getting even filthier rich -- oh, and I promise not to peek".

I would hope that victims of the recent Sony rootkit would object to
"trusted computing" on these grounds, and therefore to Vista, but I'm
deathly afraid the same public that vilified Sony is going to embrace
Microsoft's new OS with open arms rather than engage in a mass boycott
(which can be accomplished by simply sticking with XP; you don't have
to switch to Linux and see about those rocket science and unix network
admin lessons the local college is offering at a discount if you
really, really don't want to).

There really is no difference between MS and Sony here though; the Sony
disks' bundled "media player" and stealth-installed "other software"
and Windows Vista + MS Media Player will behave almost identically with
regard to who is really master of the computer and the software on it.

Unless you think it's a good idea if the OS vendor gets to sell
root-level access to YOUR COMPUTER to the highest bidder and other
"trusted affiliates and third parties", just say no to Vista and
anything else that has been tainted by association with the term
"trusted computing" or any of its synonyms: NGSCB ("next-generation
secure computing base"), "trustworthy computing", CBDTPA
(something-or-other "trusted platform alliance")...

Their ultimate aim is to turn YOUR COMPUTER into one of yesterdecade's
proprietary video game consoles with a tamperproof case and a limited
selection of overpriced stuff on tamperproof cartridges, or into one of
today's entertainment centres -- you know, the ones where you can't
watch one channel and tape another at the same time, can't tape some at
all, or others without distortion, can't skip taped commercials, can't
skip ads at the start of a copy of a movie you legally purchased, can't
play your legally purchased videos in Tuscany, or can only to not be
able to play them back in the UK anymore, can't connect certain brands
of TV to certain brands of other gadget, can't watch certain channels
without paying extra (even though you actually are receiving the signal
so watching them doesn't cost them extra!), can't watch certain shows
on screens bigger than 42 inches (what you say?!), and tens of other
stupid things all of which a) get in your way, b) make your
entertainment gratuitously more expensive for you to use, and c) make
already-rich people and their lawyers even richer without benefiting
anyone else whatsoever.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: speaking of rootkits
    ... versions of the Troj/Stinx Trojan horse which exploit the Sony ... File-Hiding Technique Alarms Security Researchers; ... Privacy and security experts charged that the technology built into many ... published an analysis showing that some new Sony CDs install software ...
    (alt.sys.pc-clone.dell)
  • Re: OT: Speaking of root hooks
    ... Sony?s Web-Based Uninstaller Opens a Big Security Hole; ... visit to download, install, and run any code it likes on your computer. ... CodeSupport remains on your system after you leave Sony?s ...
    (rec.arts.dance)
  • {Semi-OT} Sony Security Snafu Worsens
    ... Sony Security Snafu Worsens ... The fallout from a hidden copy-protection program that Sony BMG Music ... Entertainment put on some CDs got worse Tuesday as researchers said ... download and install a program designed to ready the PC for the fix. ...
    (alt.true-crime)
  • Re: speaking of rootkits
    ... It is too late as far as I am concerned not only will I not buy any Sony ... > File-Hiding Technique Alarms Security Researchers; ... > an analysis showing that some new Sony CDs install software that not only ... > Sony spokesman John McKay said the technology has been deployed on just 20 ...
    (alt.sys.pc-clone.dell)
  • The Big Ol Ubuntu Security Resource
    ... but its default install has flaws. ... are the mods you need to make to protect your system. ... If you've recently switched from Windows to the Linux distribution Ubuntu, ... IT Security has prepared a guide to help you ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)