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On 04/07/07, Simon Waters <simon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Tom Potts wrote: > > > > I'm afraid the above notes list to a large degree why computing has ground to > > a halt over the last few years. M$ has been selling the lie that computing > > can be made easy - it cant! You cant make something easy to use, useable and > > secure. > > I disagree strongly to this. Consider locks, there are various different > types of locks in common usage on peoples front doors, which vary widely > in security, and hardly at all in ease of use, I don't see how something > being on a computer suddenly changes this. > > You might be right in the practical question of much of modern computing > is built in a slapdash fashion (all cheap Yale locks), but I don't think > there is a fundamental reason why usability and security should clash. > > Those who think security is in opposition to ease of use, are I think > simply wrong. In most instances they are orthogonal, and in many > instances ease of use is necessary to ensure a system remains secure. > > > Default username/passwords are a must in this environment as otherwise there > > would be thousands of inaccessible boxes everywhere! > > I don't understand this at all. > > Some common ADSL routers do insist you set an admin password on > installation (as does Oracle these days), as does Debian and most other > distros. These boxes aren't suddenly inaccessible because of this. > > Setting unique security credentials on installation is a sensible model, > that can be easier to use than a default username/password, since you > don't even need to look in the manual to discover what the default is > when you first configure the device. > > > Secure web browsing is a nice idea but at some time there will be a power cut > > and you will loose all your bookmarks and most people will grind to a halt > > then. > > I think the security folk would argue all you need is a channel from the > browser to a permanent storage for bookmarks. The problem is our > computer models allow the browser to write all sorts of things to disk > in all sorts of places, rather than what the programmer expected. Which > is where models like SELinux come in, or "contract models", where that > which is allowed is made explicit in advance. > > I don't think losing bookmarks will cause most people to grind to a > halt, although they might do more random surfing and less work, I don't > see that as a problem. Now if it was Google that was missing... > > > > -- > The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG > http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list > FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html > > > wouldn't a simple (if partial) solution be having home/profiles on a pen drive? -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html