rapskat wrote:
> begin Error log for Thu, 14 Apr 2005 04:40:53 +0200 - Phillip Cornwallis
> caused a page fault at address <425dd
...@x-privat.org>, details as follows
> .vbs
>> So where does Linux fall short?
> Do tell...
>> Hardware support, especially for printers and scanners.
> Are you trying to say that Linux has no support at all for printers and
> scanners? If so, you are flat out lying.
> Many of the more common printers and scanners are supported by most major
> distros of Linux right out of the box. HP, Epson, Lexmark, Brother,
> Okidata, etc. all are supported. There maybe certain models that are not
> fully or at all supported yet, but the wise person checks first.
>> Software support for web based day trading applications that inisist the
>> user be using Internet Explorer.
> And yet Wall Street is practically runs on Linux, imagine. So somehow
> your little day trading website dictates how pertinent Linux is in IT?
> What you should be asking yourself is *why* these sites require the most
> insecure browser with a long documented history of vulnerabilities and
> issues? Do you really want to trust your personal financial information
> to someone who requires you to use something so insecure?
Something that always astounded me. Many banks used to be just as bad.
That's slowly changing. Now some of them are either looking for ways to
stop their customers from using IE for internet banking, or forcing users
to have to use a physical token, in the hopes that that will protect
customers from IE's poor security. Mostly, they don't want to have to deal
with angry or discouraged customers, or run the risk of being sued. How
long before other financial institutions start moving in the same
direction?
>> Financial packages that my accountant requires me to install so that he
>> can pick up the monthly books on CDROM. All automatic under Windows.
> First off, these are overkill for many home users and small to medium
> sized businesses. Many of the "features" that these offer will never be
> used by most.
> Secondly, do you want to trust your personal financial information to a
> locked in proprietary format? Forced upgrades every year? Constant
> nagging to purchase additional features and services that you don't want
> or need? Essentially being shut down if you ever forget your password?
> Incompatibility with other software or even previous versions of the same
> software?
> No, thank you.
This one is pretty topical:
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/13/BUG2DC78F...>
<quote>
But if you're one of the millions who this year have used the electronic
services of Intuit's TurboTax or H&R Block, you may not know that a
stealthy technology commonly known as Web bugs was used to track your
comings and goings on the Internet.
...
But privacy advocates and industry insiders say the technology hinges on the
honor system. If a company wanted to, they say, it could easily record or
misuse any information provided by consumers.
"We could capture your name, your Social Security number or any other
information that you willingly pass to a Web site," acknowledged Matt
Belkin, who serves as vice president of best practices for Utah marketing
giant Omniture, which tracks the online activities of people using Intuit's
TurboTax.
<end quote>
Nice they are so ethical in their use of this information. What happens if
they get "hacked"?
What happens if the temptation to make more money out of tracking users
movements from site to site through the network of over 400 companies that
use their services, by selling that data, overcomes their ethics?
What happens if they have a change of management, who have a different
policy, and think they won't get caught?
What if their customers (the 400+ companies, not the Intuit or H&R Block
users) decide they want this tracking data?
YMMV, they can say "trust us" all they like. But personally I'm not willing
to trust my privacy, identity, and financial security to any company that
is not openly accountable.
>> I'm sorry but you can wail and flai your arms all you like but Linux
>> just does not cut the mustard in what is, unfortunately, a Windows
>> world.
> It *was* a Windows world. This is slowly but surely changing. It's
> changing because people are starting to realize that they do have viable
> alternatives that work and work well.
> Linux - Secure, Stable, Open, Better.
Agreed. With
Linux I can do everything I want to do with a computer, except
keeping up the skills that facilitate fixing other peoples broken Windows
boxes.
Well, actually I can do a little of that too, Knoppix is often handy.
--
Regards,
Jim
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