To combat worms, diversity helps

The Boston Globe ^ | 9/1/2003 | Hiawatha Bray

[Radix]

No, it's not your imagination. Our computers really are going bananas. Not in a bad science-fiction movie sense. Our desktop PCs won't be starting World War III anytime soon. That's mythology; this is biology.

It turns out that bananas, the tasty yellow fruits that humans consume by the billion, are extraordinarily fragile, and not just because they bruise easily. The kind we like to eat are sterile, and can only be grown by planting shoots cut from older banana plants.

[Radix]

Considering this sort of diversity seems like a much better idea to me now after being hit with that worm virus two weeks ago.

[Cicero]

Well, who'd have thought that the Boston Globe could make virus attacks into an issue of political correctness? Diversity, forsooth.

I'll venture to step forward and say that I think Windows is best for personal computers. Apple is the real monopoly, because they refuse to make their software for any machines other than their own.

No doubt rich counterculturalists love to shell out an extra thousand for their Macs, so they can think of themselves as individualists. Kind of like wearing designer jeans. I'll take Dell.

[Agnes Heep]

Sexual reproduction is better. It ensures our gene pool is constantly stirred up.

Who cares? We now know that evolution is a myth.

[basil]

I'm helping with the Globe's diversity. I now own my 6th and 7th Macs. I recently upgraded to the new iMac, and love it! Worm--what's that?

[Gorzaloon]

On the other hand, how much did last month's worms cost the world economy?

It cost me about fifty dollars.

To install Red Hat Linux!

[Honcho Bongs]

"If Microsoft had not standardized the industry, few people would even be using Computers"

I agree - computers wouldn't be so cheap if there weren't a standard.

As far as the last several weeks' viruses and worms, all it took to defeat all of them was a firewall and up-to-date anti-virus software.

That seems to be a small price to pay for security on the 'net. Anything less is irresponsible behavior.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

No, it's not your imagination. Our computers really are going bananas. Not in a bad science-fiction movie sense. Our desktop PCs won't be starting World War III anytime soon. That's mythology; this is biology.

No, it's not. It's a crappy analogy. A better analogy would be to look at the windows operating system as the human body subjected to a hostile environment. Every time a virus infects Bill Gates, Peter Norton gets reports from various white blood emails throughout the body. Peter then sends back the correct code to surround the virus and kill the attack. When Bill Gates gets too old, he will weaken and then become susceptible to a mortal infection. But, as I am further down the road than Bill, I'm not worried about that end. Bill is no banana. Thank god, more people chose to look through windows rather than eat the wormy apple.

[punster]

I do remember this story:

The plane was flying to SEATAC airport. The airplane's radio and navigation systems had failed. The pilot was flying at low altitude, to look for navigation signs, so he could find the airport.

The plane flew over this one building, and the people on the roof started pointing in this one direction. The pilot turned and went in the opposite direction and safely landed the plane at SEATAC.

The passengers were relieved and amazed. One of them asked, "Why did you go in the opposite direction from what the people in that building were pointing?"

The pilot's answer: "That was the MICROSOFT headquarters building."

[CurlyDave]

Also if you had a firewall, kept your software updated and up to date antivirus program you would not have had a problem.

Surely you jest.

My wife has a HP laptop, with Windows XP. The last 3 or 4 times she has tried to run Windows Updater or whatever it is called the fool thing has crashed. We have no idea if it has been successful in updating before freezing the computer, or if it has failed (more likely). Both HP and Microsoft want $ to help with trooubleshooting. The $ isn't really as bad as the time we will have to spend on the phone to fix it.

I have no problem keeping the system, the virus protection, & my firewall up to date, the problem is that when the mechanisms for doing this fail there is no easy way to do it.

Unlike many of the posters here, I have a life outside the computer world, and refuse to spend hours each week updating stuff that should be easy & simple.

[Old Professer]

I've got a minimized window linking to MSN for a security update for NET Messenger (daughter uses this program); I'm hesitant to click on it because I don't know how long it will take to download nor do I know what it will do when installed.

Anybody here already been through this lately? (it just popped up this morning)

[The Great RJ]

Consider the economics of choosing a computer system for a business. You want a computer that's not too costly i.e. available from a competive variety of vendors, will run the various business applications you want without hassle or special programing and is compatable with what everyone else is running so you can share stuff with clients, vendors etc.. After you have invested in this system and trained your employees how to use it you don't want to go to the time and expense of switching to another operating system, which would force you to buy new software and retrain employees.

For good or evil MS Windows fit the bill and has become the defacto standard in the vast majority of businesses. While having a diversity of operating systems might lessen the chance of worms, viruses etc. causing mass havoc it would not be good for business. Could you imagine a variety of operating systems in automobiles? Steering wheels (or other steering devices like joysticks) in various configurations, pedals arranged differently --that's basically what the article is calling for in computers.

[jordan8]

We should all make our computer choices on the possible actions of vandals and criminals. Indeed, given the fact that computers attacks greatly effect the economy, which makes them a possible threat to national security, computer diversity should be mandatory. Anyone who wants a computer should have to apply to the government for a license which, for a small fee, will stipulate the OS they are to buy. They can then present that certificate to their computer seller and leave with their new computer. Schools, of course, will have to have every OS in every classroom so that the students will be exposed to the benifits of OS diversity, which is necessary for preparing them to be good computer citizens in this multi-OS world. Any person showing preference for one OS over another will be sanctioned.