2011 August 03 archive at Robert Pogson

Archive for August 3rd, 2011

Lies and Statistics

Published by Robert Pogson August 3rd, 2011 in technology. 0 Comments

M$ recently claimed remote code execution vulnerabilities were down this year in percentages of vulnerabilities and in absolute numbers. That turned out not to be the case. Remote code execution vulnerabilities were actually up year over year…

see NetworkWorld – Microsoft incorrectly claims drop in vulnerabilities that allow remote code execution

I anticipate a chorus of howls that the situation would be better if only the world would instantly migrate to “7″ instead of clinging to XP, but that’s irrelevant. M$ claims sole responsibility for IT in it’s products and it is responsible for vulnerabilities past, present and future, if not legally, certainly morally. This is not “1984” with M$ in charge of revising history at the Ministry of Truth. They told us security was job #1 back in the days of XP as well… In fact most things M$ tells us are shaped to make M$ look good. That’s what a company run by salesmen does.

I prefer more openness in IT. That’s why I use Debian GNU/Linux, a cooperative product of the world working for us and not against us. Debian publishes all its known bugs and reports for the world to see so you can know the bugs that are out there before you install the software. A search using Google for “remote code execution” on bugs.debian.org reveals 157 hits for all open bugs, not just this year’s and for all the thousands of packages available. Using Debian’s index one can travel back in time to bug #50004 from 1999.

- Robert Pogson

My Mission

My observations and opinions about IT are based on 40 years of use in science and technology and lately, in education. I like IT that is fast, cost-effective and reliable. I do not care whether my solution is the same as yours. I like to think for myself.

My first use of GNU/Linux in 2001 was so remarkably better than what I had been using, I feel it is important work to share GNU/Linux with the world. I have been blessed by working in schools where students and school systems have benefited by good, modular software easily installed in most systems.

I have shown GNU/Linux to thousands of students and hundreds of teachers over the years and will continue in some way doing that until I die in spite of the opposition.