City of Toronto using Linux (on the desktop, yet!)

[Phillip Mills]

On Friday, August 22, 2003, at 05:20 PM, Max Blanco wrote:

> I didn't see your letter in today's online version of the G+M.

Doesn't look like I made the cut.  Conversely, there's an article in 
this morning's business section about heroic IT workers putting in long 
hours to cope with worms, viruses, and electrical blackouts.   
Aaaarrrrrghhh!

(I was once the coworker of a Help Desk manager who was very proud of 
the enormous number of calls his staff handled each week.  Ummm, what 
if you provided systems that didn't need that much support?  Hmmmm?)

> Care to share?

Sure.

===== If it hurts, don't do it. =====

	Each time I read an article about another worm or virus attacking 
computer systems (Blaster Worm hampering power repair, Aug. 20; Viruses 
eat away at firms' productivity, Aug. 21), I am dismayed that the 
authors portray the affected organizations as victims.  Damage from 
malicious computer code is not at all like the result of some 
mysterious, chaotic force of nature; it is the predictable outcome of a 
business decision.
	The very design of some Microsoft products, emphasizing convenience 
over security, invites and enables attacks of technological vandalism.  
Since at least the Melissa virus (1999) and the Code Red worm (2001), 
we've known that exposing Microsoft mail and server software to the 
Internet increases the risk of damage and downtime compared to all the 
safer -- and often cheaper -- alternatives.  It's the business 
equivalent of smoking cigarettes in a public place: it can kill you 
while it harms and annoys those around you.
	For companies to put themselves at unnecessary risk is a waste of 
their resources.  For government organizations to do so is an abuse of 
the public trust.

		    =====

........................
Phillip Mills
Multi-platform software development
(416) 224-0714

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