The ONLY purpose Internet Explorer serves, is to download Mozilla Firefox.

I subscribe to Bruce Schneier, leading expert on security. His articles and publications are always well written, and he brings so much to the table in terms of security. Well, the latest entry on his blog is a link to an interview done with an Adware programmer. As you read the article, it’s clear that Internet Explorer has some serious flaws, and these programmers are taking clear advantage of them. One might even go so far to say that Microsoft is aware of the holes, and turning a blind eye as they have an opportunity to make money on security software. At any event, IE is a serious security flaw, and anyone or any company even halfway serious about malware should take a second look at the flagship browser, and find an alternative.

Of course, we’ve been saying this to family and friends over and over and over until we’re blue in the face, but they aren’t listening. Maybe this article is good ammunition to have at your disposal. Good read.

When I got home from Pittsburgh, it was worse than I thought. We were not only infected by one virus, but many, trojans and worms included. Complicate that with malware, spyware, adware and dialers, and you can imagine my pain trying to clean up the operating system. Whoever attacked us, got us good, however, just on the Windows XP machine. My Linux machines remained completely, and totally unaffected. Fortunately, for us, not much is on that computer of personal worth, and my wife responded quicker than I thought, pulling the network cable as soon as she noticed the attack. If the attacker got anything at all, it wasn’t much, and certainly of no value or cause of concern.

After spending several hours Friday night and early Saturday morning, I made no progress in removing the infection from the operating system. At this point, I told my wife that it was probably time to say goodbye to Windows, relying on our digital lifestyle with Ubuntu Linux and Mac OS X. The decision has nothing to do with Freedom of software, but rather, everything to do with security and peace of mind. See agreed, and Sunday afternoon, the Windows partition was wiped clean (after backing up necessary data of course) replaced with Ubuntu 8.04.1.

For me, this is a big win, being an advocate of security and Free Software. However, I believe I sense some reluctance and fear from my wife. I’m not sure if she’s going to enjoy this, as she has developed a strong relationship with Microsoft Office, in particular, Word and Powerpoint. I am confident though, that through OpenOffice.org, she will find new life in a competing office software suite, and find Ubuntu Linux not as scary as she thinks it may be.

So finally, after 5 years of being Microsoft-free personally, my family has now made that switch as well. Good Fortune is headed our way.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, of which I am a member, recently pointed in their Deep Links site how DRM is is punishing paying customers rather than “pirates”. Clip from the article:

Netflix subscriber Davis Freeberg ran headlong into an incompatibility between Microsoft DRM and … Microsoft DRM.

The trouble all started when Freeberg bought a new monitor for his Vista computer. When he decided to watch streaming movies from Netflix, Netflix documentation warned him that the recommended means of fixing a problem with DRM-restricted Netflix programming “may remove licenses to other content using Microsoft DRM” — including, in particular, restricted programming he had already purchased through Amazon Unbox. Trying to resolve this problem just got Freeberg a tech-support runaround, with each company involved pointing the finger at another.

Tech support problems are not unfamiliar to PC users, but where did this problem come from? Freeberg was just trying to use a new monitor with his computer; his reward, apparently, was broken DRM software, which couldn’t be sure the new monitor met movie studios’ arbitrary requirements (or perhaps just couldn’t be sure whether it could be sure). Furthermore, the DRM industry — which has already spent countless engineer-hours making “approved” and “licensed” products (seemingly at the expense of “compatible” and “interoperable” devices) — couldn’t even offer Freeberg a clear path out of this jam.

Ahh, the joys of running equipment and software is DRM-laden. Unfortunately, I suspect that we’ll see a lot more of these stories in the coming year, without the the media market caring one iota, and as the article suggests, DRM is only affecting paying customers, not the so-called “pirates” that are making this DRM content available- without DRM. In other words, biting the hand that feeds you. Good strategy Microsoft!

• 8 trojans
• 144 adwares
• 71 spywares
• 39 viruses

So, I couldn’t help but come up with the 10 Golden Rules of administering, or just flat out running a Windows box.

1. Keep your virus definitions up to date.
2. Keep your spyware definitions up to date.
3. Keep your adware definitions up to date.
4. Keep other malware definitions up to date.
5. Do not install 3rd party software from untrusted sites.
6. Do not open email attachments from people you don’t know.
7. Stay away from warez, porn, and other shady sites.
8. Do not use Internet Explorer.
9. Configure and enable Windows Firewall.
10. Enable the guest account for everyone other than yourself.

All-in-all, just use your head. Think logically and critically. When using the Windows operating system, you have to be on your toes 24/7, and you have to be protected out the gate before ever getting online. When online, in one form or another, be skeptical of everything. Windows is such an insecure operating system, you can’t afford to make any mistakes, or you get eaten alive, as is the case with this poor owner and their laptop. When systems get this bad, it’s time for one of two things:

1. Take a training course in administering/running your system.
2. Run a secure operating system, such as Mac OS X or Linux.

My tolerance for people who can’t effectively keep their Windows system clean is becoming nonexistent. I’m getting to the point now, where if you foul up your Windows box, and you want me to fix it, I’ll just wipe the hard drive clean, and install Ubuntu. I’m not there yet, but getting close.

It’s such a tremendously bad idea that it’s almost bound to succeed. Microsoft has filed another patent, this one for an “advertising framework” that uses “context data” from your hard drive to show you advertisements and “apportion and credit advertising revenue” to ad suppliers in real time. Yes, Redmond wants to own the patent on the mother of all adware.

The application, filed in 2006, describes a multi-faceted, robust ad-delivering system that lives on a “user computer, whether it’s part of the OS, an application or integrated within applications.”

“Applications, tools, or utilities may use an application program interface to report context data tags such as key words or other information that may be used to target advertisements,” says the filing. “The advertising framework may host several components for receiving and processing the context data, refining the data, requesting advertisements from an advertising supplier, for receiving and forwarding advertisements to a display client for presentation, and for providing data back to the advertising supplier.”

The adware framework would leave almost no data untouched in its quest to sell you stuff. It would inspect “user document files, user e-mail files, user music files, downloaded podcasts, computer settings, computer status messages (e.g., a low memory status or low printer ink),” and more. How could we have been so blind as to not see the marketing value in computer status messages?

The software would also free advertising from its traditional browser yoke. “A word processor may display a banner ad along the top of a window, similar to a toolbar, while a graphical ad may be displayed in a frame associated with the application. A digital editor for photos or movies may support video-based advertisements,” the patent application says.

The patent application, first unearthed by InformationWeek, gives the impression that your software would have more control over the advertising than you would. “An e-mail client may specify that ads from competitors must be excluded, that its own display client must be used… (that) no more than 4 ads per hour are allowed, and that only text or graphical… advertisements are supported.” The patent makes no mention of any method by which an actual user might exert control, nor does it mention very real privacy or security concerns.

That’s okay. It’s still a good thing. It says so right in the application: “The ability to derive and process context data from local sources rather than monitor interactions with a remote entity, such as a server, benefits both consumers and advertisers by delivering more tightly targeted advertisements. The benefit to the user is the perception that the ads are more relevant, and therefore, less of an interruption. The benefit to the advertiser is better focus and a higher chance of conversion to a sale.”

The patent is a fascinating exercise in advertising delivery systems. But surely that’s all it is—an exercise. No way anyone would ever actually make a thing like this. Right?

So, let me get this straght:

• I have to pay money for Windows so Microsoft can play Big Brother.
• I don’t have to pay money for Ubuntu so Canonical leaves me alone.

• I have to pay money for Windows to install spyware and adware on my computer.
• I don’t have to pay money for Ubuntu to keep spyware off of my computer.

• I have to pay money for Windows to take up valuable resources on my computer, scanning my data for targeting ads.
• I don’t have to pay money for Ubuntu so I can manage my resources as I see fit.

Interesting way of thinking, Microsoft. Call me stupid, but I think that’s a dumb business model. Whether you agree with me or not, as I illustrate very plainly, I’ll have to pay money for an operating system to infringe on my personal security through adware. And this is a good idea? Is this one of those “innovator” moments? I find it ironic that you offer a “tool” to remove adware from Windows, yet you’ll be installing it by default. Will this “tool” remove it? I doubt it.

Hey, I have an idea for all the computers users out there: why not just download a Free and Open operating system, like Linux, and keep your personal data and security in tact? No Big Brother. No security breaches. No adware or spyware. Just peace of mind knowing that you have an operating system that leaves you alone.

Huh. I bet you didn’t think of that now, did you Microsoft?

Techdirt ran an article about a Windows developer who created a software tool for Visual Studio.NET, and Microsoft is threatening litigation, AFTER they initially rewarded him for his work. Here’s the article from Techdirt:

Someone who prefers to remain anonymous, pointed us to the story of Jamie Cansdale. Cansdale wrote an add-on for Microsoft Visual Studio that was so useful that Microsoft rewarded him with MVP status. Then they realized that his add-on was designed to work on the free “Express” version of Visual Studio, and they began to threaten him, saying that he had violated the terms of service. This was doubly ridiculous, since Cansdale notes that, as a hobbyist, he only had access to the free Express version when developing his add-on, so it was only natural that his version was designed to work with it. As Cansdale pointed out that he doesn’t appear to have done anything wrong (and kept asking Microsoft for evidence of what terms he violated specifically), the legal threats just got stronger and stronger, and apparently, the guy has until tomorrow to make changes to the same software Microsoft gave him an award for writing, even though no one can explain exactly what he did wrong or why he received an award one day and a legal threat afterwards. Update: In the comments, someone points us to a detailed version that gives Microsoft’s side of the story and suggests this isn’t as clear cut as the Register’s article would have you believe.

Here’s the lowdown, if you don’t read the story in full at the Register. Basically, a hobby developer created a tool for improving .NET development using all versions of Visual Studio. At first, Microsoft was so impressed with his work, that they awarded him the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award. It was only later upon discovering that the tool also worked with Visual Studio.NET Express (the freeware edition that can be downloaded from Microsoft’s site), that they revoked his MVP status, and began threatening him with legal action.

Being told how and where Cansdale can distribute his software, when it is apparently not violating any licenses or terms of service, is draconian. If Microsoft feels that they are in the right, and even if they technically are, once awarding Cansdale with MVP, they should not revoked it. Microsoft should have done a bit more research into his work, before awarding him with MVP status. I look at my work in the Free Software community, and my status as an Ubuntu Member. If that status was initially given for developing a software tool, than later revoked, because the tool that I wrote for the Ubuntu developing community actually violated some license or terms of service for another software application, I probably wouldn’t be involved with the project anymore, especially if threatened with legal action. However, I know that as long as I abide by the Ubuntu Code of Conduct, my membership status will never be revoked, other than naturally expiring after 2 years, of which, I’m given the option to renew.

See? This is one of the BIG reasons I don’t run Windows, or want anything to do with it. You are treated as a criminal from the start. Cansdale sticks to his guns, and has even sought legal counsel, which advise him to hold his ground, and that he has used publicly available APIs to Visual Studio.NET Express. So, if using a tool that has such APIs, and enhancing the product with another tool using said APIs, means lawsuits and financial ruin, count me out. Funny thing is, there are still Windows developers and users who seem to put blinders over the issues, as if they don’t exist. Why support a company, software or not, that is going to treat you as guilty, unless proven innocent? Would you shop at a grocery store if you were arrested for potential theft, even if you haven’t started actually shopping?

I guess this would be reason #6 why I don’t run Windows, or develop for that platform. I like my Freedoms, but more importantly, I like the parent company of the product I endorse, namely Canonical, because they respect my Freedoms as well.

If I may, I’d like to discuss this for a second. First, I’d like to discuss what Microsoft is doing to the computing world. I give my respect where respect is due, and recognize that they have had great success, but wish to conjecture, that by making an operating system more user friendly, you reduce the mental challenging of a computer user. I’m not calling the user ‘dumb’, just not challenged.

Because, apparently, if there is no *.exe file to step them through an installation process, then it’s too hard to install software. Obviously, if there is no Start Menu, then the system isn’t user friendly. Of course, if there is no Control Panel, then the system can’t be maintained. And, by having to use the terminal from time to time, you have to be a programmer. So why bother? Obviously, Linux is just too hard of an operating system. Linux is demanding just too much from the user. It will never replace Windows on the desktop.

It’s almost as if, we as Linux developers, package managers and users even, are supposed to dumb down the operating system, so we can accommodate Windows users. Well, while I do agree with user friendly design, consistency and overall flow of an operating system, making the end experience much more pleasurable, end users don’t always know what they want in an OS, and having a parent company, such as Microsoft, let the users control the design of the operating system, isn’t necessarily a good idea.

So, as we see with each Windows release, computer users are challenged less and less to the point where using anything else, especially if it challenges you a bit mentally, is alien. Fortunately, there are people in this world who don’t mind being challenged mentally. As such, they make up great computer users and advocates. They also find, that, using Linux as an operating system isn’t necessarily hard, but just different.

Especially with Debian/Ubuntu. For example, you find that installing software is actually easier in 99% of cases than Windows. Start menu? Please. You see that you have panels that you can customize to your liking, and that menus exist all over the place, and ready at your command. You learn quickly where and how to control your operating system, and find, even, that there are just as many, if not, tons more, ways to keep it maintained. All of the sudden, you find that using Linux requires learning the terminal, but you find that you’re better off for it, and you didn’t have to learn how to program. So why bother? Because obviously, Linux is a solid operating system and platform. Linux isn’t demanding too much from the user, but just stretching your mental muscles. It should replace Windows on your desktop.

So, now we look back at the threat “If you don’t make Linux easier to use, I’m going back to Windows”. All I have to say, is if you’re not willing to take the time to learn something different (it’s called ‘work’), then don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

UPDATE: Justin wrote up a good review of the conference on his blog. You can find his post here.

I had the opportunity today, along with John, Kyle, Justin and Mike (some local LUG members), to meet with Bruce Perens during the Novell Brainshare Conference. Although, this meeting was not part of Brainshare, and was strictly a press conference. However, the insights that were shed on the Novell / Microsoft deal were priceless.

The press conference was good. It was held at the Shilo Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. My friends and I arrived about an hour early to help get a few details coordinated before the meeting started at 12 noon. When 12 hit, there were only a couple press present, so we were worried that a good turnout would not show. But, apparently, Novell had them held up in a Q&A session that went a few minutes over. It wasn’t long before the room was filled, seating about 20 or so. The meeting lasted an hour, which went by too quickly, and was loaded with really good information.

Pete Ashdown, Democratic Candidate for the U.S. Senate last year and CEO of XMission, was present and introduced Bruce to the press. I would like to thank Pete for allowing us to use XMission to host the images and media of the event. I would also like to thank my employer introPLAY, for sharing their account on the XMission servers.

You can find all the images and audio from the event here.

A few highlights from the meeting:

• Microsoft is spreading FUD with this deal with Novell to the Open Source community.
• The Novell / Microsoft deal poses a real threat to Open Source due to software patents.
• Novell and Microsoft both hope to sue end users if the Open Source Software is not purchased from them.
• Version 3 of the GNU General Public License is written to thwart those lawsuits.
• Every piece of software, Free and non-Free infringes on a software patent one way or another.
• Software patents are the ability for corporations to protect themselves first and innovate later.
• Software patents stifle Open Source Software development.

The conclusion of the meeting? Nothing good is coming from this deal between Microsoft and Novell. If it were just a technical partnership, everything would be okay, but it’s not. Bruce kept saying “is this really a Novell exit strategy?” I can’t help but wonder if it is. The worst nightmares of every Open Source developer is becoming a realization. The GPLv3 is our savior from a potential litigation nightmare on Open Source that will come about because of this.

At any rate, I would highly encourage you to listen to the audio provided on the XMission page. Very insightful stuff.

• If no: then Internet Explorer is not the browser to be designing sites for, but, instead, developing for standards compliance browsers like Firefox, Konqueror and Safari.
• If yes: then why haven’t they improved the browser to adhere to standards compliance to ease the pain of development?

Please enlighten me.

When running Windows, if I want to burn a CD, I have to walk on egg shells to get a clean burn, otherwise, the burn fails, and I have to start over. Case in point: tomorrow is a state-wide OALUG/UPHPU combined workshop where we’ll be learning PHP. We will be in a lab that does not have Linux installed on the machines. As such, we will be running off of LiveCDs for the meet. I don’t have enough, and need to burn quite a few to make sure I have everyone covered. My wife booted into Windows and began using the computer. I asked her if she could take advantage of the two burners in the tower, and start burning Ubuntu CDs while she was working. No problem. She downloaded the ISO, put a blank disk in both burners and started burning. Withing 15 seconds, she received an error message saying the burn had failed. We tried again, and got the same response: burn failed. So, we decided to burn one for the time being. Half way through, it failed. We put in another one. Failed. We slowly began realizing that if we were to get a successful burn, we needed to stay off the computer during the duration of the burn. Not only that, but the screensaver had to be disabled as did power management. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy, as we had spent almost an hour trying to get a single disk burn, but yet, we had nothing but coasters.

Now Ubuntu Linux. I reboot the computer, and boot into Ubuntu. Curious, I try the same thing. Take a guess what happened. Yes, I was able to burn both disks simultaneously without any errors. Not only that, but I could use the operating system as normal without a hitch. I could browse the web, check my email, chat online and even play a game. Every disk I burned, came out perfect. Not a single failure. I could even have the screensaver on while burning.

Imagine that. An operating system that allows me to multitask without any major issues.

The funny thing is, I am not alone.  After hitting a couple IRC channels and forums, searching for the reason for this odd behavior, I discovered that recording CDs in the Windows operating system is a delicate process.  Running processes cannot be memory hungry, or the burn will fail.  To me, this seems backwards.  Why can I not use my operating system to do more than one task?  Granted, I am aware of the physical restraints, but burning CDs is not an intensive process.  Memory is hardly used and the CPU is waiting for cycles.  The only device under stress would be the disk I/O, but then, CD burners read the file in advance, and load it into memory before sending it to the burner.  So, I’m stumped why Windows needs to be abandoned while burning a CD.

Thank you Linux.

The next in the series of why I choose not to run Windows comes with the recent news of iPods being infected with the RavMonE.exe virus. Of course, I am helping wage the war against DRM, so I don’t wield on iPod either, but that’s besides the point.

There are two things that I have noticed with this news release:

1. Windows is willing to accept a virus from 3rd party hardware with no software interaction to create the infection. This gives a whole new meaning to the term “Plug ‘n Play”.
2. The virus in a Win32 binary executable, which means that my fellow Linux (and even Mac (how ironic, seeing as though Mac is doing the infecting (technically, you’re doing the infecting, but that’s what you get for supporting DRM))) users don’t have to worry about it one bit.

Man I love not playing that game.

• Ultimate Keyboard
• Windows Automotive
• Pocket PC

OK. Let’s look at these a each a little more closely. First, the Ultimate Keyboard. I’d like to know where the naming scheme came from for that one. What makes the keyboard “ultimate”? Well, first, it has an authentic metal look. Second, it has the Windows button in 3, not just 2, different locations. Third, it has no 10-key. Fourth, it has… wait. No 10-key!!? And this is supposed to be the absolute Ultimate?! Heh. Please. To me, it looks just like another wireless keyboard and mouse with Bluetooth and back-lit keys. In other words, just a normal keyboard. Without a 10-key.

OK, next, Windows Automotive. For those who have read my blog before Pthree, know that I’ve griped about this before. Windows Automotive is another excuse for Microsoft to bring Windows into every little niche of your life. It isn’t enough that they are in you den, pocket, phone, living room and even slot machines. They have to be in your car too. I have been in a vehicle with Windows Automotive actually. Surprisingly enough (sarcasm), the owner of the vehicle had more trouble with it. When starting his car, sometimes it would boot, sometimes not. When booted, it greeted you with an annoying voice. He didn’t know how to turn it off, and it wasn’t coming through the car speakers. All the features that came with it, like web browsing, development tools (who’s going to develop in their car??? Honestly!), and WMA/MP3 playback he never used. Finally, he noticed that when the unit has been on for a while, the screen gets fairly hot, and the unit slows to a crawl. When using the GPS, once it had over a 30-second lag. Luckily, he knew where he was going! All in all, this is just another failed product. If this is the first time you have heard of it, Microsoft has been at it since 1998. Know anyone with a car that has one? Didn’t think so.

Last, but definitely not least, Pocket PC. You may ask what I could possibly pick on with Pocket PC. Well, for starters, it’s Windows CE, it’s bloated, and it’s only getting worse. I have had my “fun” with Pocket PC, and still, after all these years, it still doesn’t cut it compared to Palm. It’s non-intuitive when navigating, it needs tons of RAM to run, applications don’t exit memory when you hit the “x” button in the upper right-hand corner, all the devices are very bulky and heavy and even Pocket PC is prone to viruses. It’s a nightmare in your hand. Surprisingly enough (again, sarcasm), they have copied Palm at just about every corner. Where’s the innovation again?

I am glad that I am not associated with that company, and I am glad that I choose not to run their operating system.

According to the web, if you’re running a pirated copy of Windows, you could be reported to Microsoft. Nothing wrong with that, right? After all, it is their software; their proprietary code; their property. But what if you found out the tool was installed without your prior knoweldge? Pirated or not, that gives me the creeps.

Using Ubuntu, I love the Synaptic Update Manager, because it tells me in explicit detail what is being installed. I don’t read through pages of EULAs, as I would in the Windows updater. Rather, I am told exactly what is being installed on my system, and more importantly, I can refuse certain updates as I please. In other words, Ubuntu Linux is straight-up with me on what is going to be installed. Microsoft, on the other hand, would rather I never knew.

Even Microsoft admits that it needs a better way to inform its users what is being updated and installed. All I have to say, is if you are a Microsoft user, you better make the switch to Linux before Redmond and Co. decide to start snooping your files for financial and personal information and reporting them back to HQ.

At work, we have Trend Micro OfficeScan for our virus protection. I don’t know one way or the other if it is great software, or if it sucks, however, I know that updating the software through the Trend Micro OfficeScan GUI works just fine. And, if Microsoft can tell me that my virus definitions are out of date, then it certainly should have the ability to update them. Sounds normal to me. Anyway, here is a link to a screenshot of the “Security Center” on my desktop at work.

“Note, Windows does not detect all antivirus programs.” Way to say, “if you haven’t paid us money to fix it, we won’t fix it!”