Re: [seul-edu] ILuvYou worm, Windows bashing and misc (was answer to David)

[Dan Kolb <dankolb@ox.compsoc.net>]

jm wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Dan Kolb wrote:
>  >The ILOVEYOU worm. What more can be said for not using a Windows solution?
> 
> I know it's off-topic, but the ILOVEYOU worm is more an illustration of people
> lacking of any "simple" paranoia (or call it computer common sense) than a
> reason not to use windows.
> You click on an attachement, you can potentially harm your computer. Even
> on linux...

Assuming you're not running as root, you can only harm the files in your
home directory, rather than on the whole system. If you're running a
home system, it's still not much consolation; however, in a multi-user
environment, other people can still carry on working while you dig out
your backup tapes. VBScript is still a Microsoft 'technology', and in a
way, the cause of the worm. Plus being able to fiddle with the registry
from a VBScript (which is a Bad Thing).

> >It costs nothing (maybe a couple of dollars for a CD) and you can
> >install it on as many computers as you want. Likewise with Sun's
> >Staroffice.
> 
> Except Staroffice is soooooooooo slow. Make me like word 97.

Well, okay. I find Staroffice runs reasonably well on my K6/2 450, and
ran acceptably on a K6/166. However, it does everything except make
coffee :).
And the formula editing is really nice, which helps when doing Physics
practical writeups.

> Use Abiword as a cool Word Processor, (http://www.abisource.com)
> Gnumeric as a cool Spreadsheet (http://www.gnome.org/gnumeric/)
> and  Magic Point as a "presentation"tool  (http://www.mew.org/mgp/)

I haven't tried them myself, so I can't give an opinion.

> or give a try to Koffice http://www.koffice.org/

Downloaded it once. It complained that the required Qt libs weren't
installed, and refused to compile.

>  >"We should be teaching what people will be using in the office." Another
> >fallacy. Almost every office uses Win95/98 now. Win95 didn't exist even
> >5 years ago. The length of most university courses is 3 or 4 years. So,
> >unless you were in the last year(s) of school in 95/96  or didn't go to
> >University, chances are you'll be using a different system to the one
> >you were taught in school.
> 
> Yeah, teach the essence of computing instead of "one instant tool" that
> will be obsolete in a few years is the key of success for computing lesson.

Okay, people. How many schools *really* teach the 'essence' rather than
'one instant tool' of computing?

> And if you REALLY have to teach MsOffice and Win 9x,
> there are still the solution provided by VmWare (www.vmware.com)
> that is having a virtual "windows" inside of your linux...
> Advantages:
>     + all the PC are the sames
>     + users can do what they want, next time, you just copy all over again
> the "OS" disk image.

Disadvantage: it costs money. Office is supposed to run under WINE, and
FreeMWare (or whatever it's called now) apparently got a working DOS
prompt.

> >At home, people don't program any more, they'd rather
> >have a game of Unreal Tournament, or similar.
> Well, I guess there is still the same number of ppl hacking around,
> but since there is much more computers users, it gets diluted.

I suppose. But, back in the 80s, the BBC had a campaign to teach people
computer literacy. From this, the Acorn BBC micro came, and loads of
people learnt programming on it (I don't know if the BBC campaign taught
programming, but I wouldn't be surprised if it touched on it). Recently
they had another computer literacy campaign - this involed "Look! This
is a Web Browser. You click things in it, using the mouse. The mouse is
the object sitting near the keyboard which you push around.".

> And may be programming now is a bit more frustrating (in the old day, a
> crappy command line game was FUN... now it's just "what, no 3D acceleration
> ? no Dolby Stereo sound... And who cares about a story anyway: people want
> Quake-like, not a game where they should think...)

I personally would much rather have a game of Lode Runner, or one of the
other 'old' 80s games, than the fancy 3-D shoot-em-ups (oh look -
another Quake clone; is this the best game ever? Of all 3 millenia we
can think of?).

> Plus, if you look at the magazines now available, there are no hacker magazine,
> just "consummer" ones.

Hmm...Dr. Dobbs. Er, umm, nope. Can't think of any more. Computer
Shopper (at least the British one) has got some decent articles about
programming sometimes. Doesn't beat the old (80s again) magazines where
you had to type in 1000-odd lines of program by hand (remember the fun,
especially when you mistyped something and had to go back and change
it?). Looking at the shelves in a magazine store, comes up with about
half-2/3 shelf space taken up with games magazines, then 4 or 5 on Macs,
another 5-6 on Windows specifically, 2-3 on business, 3-5 'general', 0
on Linux and 1 on programming (Dr. Dobbs).

> For example, do you think a game like "Robot Odyssey" could be made today ?
> or is it a "too smart" game ?
> (http://members.aol.com/Fractal101/odyssey.htm)

A lot of games are claiming to have 'puzzles' (which in most games
requires looking behind some garbage cans, or similar to find a better
weapon).

Dan
-- 
dankolb@ox.compsoc.net  Oxford University Computer Society Secretary

--I reserve the right to be completely wrong about any comments or 
  opinions expressed; don't trust everything you read above--