[REBOL] Re: Cringely article; food for thought
From: joel:neely:fedex at: 5-Aug-2001 3:01
Hi, Russell,
Not trying to start a flame war here... just an observation.
Russell Yost wrote:
> But see comment 4 of 15 on this subject at ANN
> www.ann.lu
> Cringely may have fallen into a trap!
>
Well... Cringley is certainly willing to indulge in purple
prose to make his point (and keep his audience entertained!),
but more thoughtful reviews I've heard add another issue to
the mix. Re "comment 2",
"Nobody criticises, the Amiga OSs, Linux, Solaris,
QNX, etc. for providing raw sockets."
... probably (in the opionion of some) because of the much
lower portion of the market they hold, and because of the
nature of their markets. The stereotypical undisciplined
adolescent script kiddy is more likely to have unsupervised
access to one or more uSoft boxen than any of the above.
I don't think anybody credibly argues that raw sockets are
new to XP, only that it appears to make it much easier to
get to them.
Conspiracy theories aside, it's fairly well known that there
are many ways to crack the typical uSoft box (especially if
it is not professionally administered with latest SRs). The
number of such boxen connected to the 'Net via cable and DSL,
combined with easier access to raw sockets, would certainly
provide a wealth of opportunity for untraceable DDOS on a
mind-boggling scale, IMHO.
High-powered nail guns are readily available in stores that
cater to professional carpenters. But they aren't sold over
the counter at the local Toyz-is-we!
-jn-
--
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Programming languages: compact, powerful, simple ...
Pick any two!
joel'dot'neely'at'fedex'dot'com
