I posted a long reply to a news article...I thought some of you might enjoy it.
http://www.techimo.com/newsapp/index.pl?photo=8559
Id be interested to know what any of you think about msoft being in any able to make secure stuff..specifically the train of thought that their sales/quantity mentality is opposite of the mentality needed to make clean tight secure products.
In response to the article, I wrote---->
hehe. The funny thing to me is...
If a guy says he is going to do something once...and he tries but he cant....then he says he is going to do it again...hmmm. Like a politician who campaigned with a great financial plan and he spouted over and over how the plan would do this and do that...4 years later the problems were worse....so now the politician is campaigning again, saying he has ANOTHER PLAN?? And that it will work THIS TIME?? Hmmm.
It also vaguely reminds me of someone who is caught lying under oath in court...hmm, he was caught lying on tuesday and he swears in again on Wednesday and you want me to believe him?? "Ok, ok, Im telling the truth now"
This reminds me of a baseball or football team that is having a losing year...they are like 2-4 and just cant stop the bleeding....after a tough loss they have a week to get ready for the next game....OF COURSE they WANT to do better...but CAN THEY???? I mean, hey, they are all still getting paid megabucks...but can they produce?? See, sometimes its not a matter of willpower..its a matter of skill,talent etc.
For microsluff its maybe a matter of ideology, direction etc etc....but to me I have to go back to the baseball analogy.....some kids just CANT hit the ball...if they strikeout 15 times in a row its not that they arent trying..they just dont have what it takes...they dont TRY to strikeout..they just cant hit the ball. Maybe they are great at math, or have a good personality..hey, cool...but they suck at hitting a baseball.
Microsoft has proven it is good at marketing, at building a monopoly (thru various means), at making a LOT of products, at making a lot of features....but NONE OF THAT PROVES THEY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SECURITY...their whole corporate outlook of market saturation somewhat goes against making secure products....meaning that making a tight secure product is a goal in one direction and making a full featured, easy to use, ultra backward compatible, hyper integrated, swiss army knife application is a goal in another direction.
Achieving opposite aims at the same time??? oohh, thats tuff. Achieiving a goal (security) that requires methods and ideologies opposite from your bread and butter strong point (marketing, swiss army knife apps, easy to use one size fits all apps) is going to be nearly impossible. The synapses and brainwaves of the Microslop machine is just not wired for security.
Lets look at a few analogies of what micro$kunk is attempting.
Can Micheal Jordan, with all of his skill, great reflexes, heart, determination, willpower and experience dealing with pressure...all of his basketball skill...can he even make the second string of a pro baseball team? (no, we saw that he couldnt)(wanting it is not enough, at the start of the fight both boxers want to win, both say they will win, one ends up layed out cold)
Lance Armstrong....great great cycling athlete..reached the absolute PINNACLE of his sport...guts, savvy, discipline..with all he has acheived...could he now take all of his strengths and......become a great sumo wrestler?? (nope, its not in the genetics, he isnt wired for it. Is microsofts machine wired for security?)
Lets take the mighty Jaguar...an animal with no rival...pound for pound by far the strongest cat..jaws that pierce a preys skull in one bite....a killing machine....the BEST AT WHAT HE DOES (msoft marketing).....now, lets take that mighty all powerful, proud and majestic Jaguar...and take him from his natural field of play (marketing, sales, quantity, broad strokes) and place him, say, in the middle of the ocean! (security, details, tiny little weaknesses, things that cant be hyped)....will he be such a great hunter then?? Are his strong jaws going to do him much good out there in the waves? Is his musular sprinters build going to allow him to wade water for hours? Nope, he is not wired that way..his architecture and make-up are not suited for ocean life, lol. By the same token, msofts marketing genius and quantity sales/clout/power/lawyer mentality have absolutely nothing to do with security. Prowess in one field doesnt guarantee prowess in another (ask MJ). Rather, prowess in one field sometimes PRECLUDES prowess in another field because the two fields require opposing qualities.
Is Mcdonalds going to turn into a chic avant garde dinner club?
Is a 747 going to retool and do some crop dusting?
If Ozzy Osbourne really tries hard, is he going to sing tenor like Pavorrati?
Is a bulldozer going to beat a mini cooper in a slalom run?
So personally I dont even think Ballmers boys are even CAPABLE of making a dent in their many security issues....Rome is just too big now...the borders cant all be covered.
When Rome was falling apart at the seams, it wouldnt have been enough for one of the Ceasers to grit his teeth, strike a macho pose and try to whip his troops into a frenzy.
The same for security....Ballmer can jump like an idiotic monkey to impress his partners and troops...but you cant use hype to close a security hole....hackers arent moved by hype or corporate pressure, or an army of lawyers, or by what kind of car you drive, or by your power to make or break their career.....they are moved by and interested in hard cold facts, mechanisms, code, programming.
Good Luck Ballmer, maybe your best bet is to try to hire all the hackers, spoil them to a good corporate lifestyle, and then tighten the little leash on them....you may as well try that approach....cuz what youve been doing for the last several years hasnt been working....if you just do MORE of whats not working..will it all of a sudden start working?
End rant/editorial/free flow braindump, JP
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