[Golden Eagle]

Second, it requires someone to be futzing with the mirror directly or the commmunication--

You apparently didn't even read the advisory, or don't know how to.

Third, you don't have to run YaST at all to update

Yeah right, whatever, none of them are as easy as what I do now.

The problem isn't as bad as ones I've seen on my peers' computers--they get trojaned just by running the OS.

Probably do, especially if they're running some obscure O/S that relies on the security of something like BT to get all their files.

[rzeznikj at stout]

No, you just cherry-picked from the advisory. How about these tidbits from your adulterated evidence:

The preferred method for installing security updates is to use the YaST Online Update (YOU) tool. YOU detects which updates are required and automatically performs the necessary steps to verify and install them. Alternatively, download the update packages for your distribution manually and verify their integrity by the methods listed in Section 6 of this announcement.

and:

Both attacks require an attacker either manipulating a YaST Online Update mirror or manipulating the network traffic between the mirror and your machine."

Clearly you have no clue as to what you're saying.