NOT SO - Huge Security holes in MS FrontPage 98

[Richard Welykochy]

Tony Wilkinson wrote:
> 
> For those of you interested in Frontpage Extensions, I should point out that
> Microsoft is aware of the security issue with Apache servers, and will be
> posting an update of Frontpage Extensions for Apache to the following
> location:
> http://microsoft.com/frontpage/wpp/
> The security issue ONLY affects Apache based servers and will soon be
> rectified.   This site also includes a lot of useful information for those
> planning to use FP98 Server Extensions

Allow me to cite the hapless ISP who contributed his experiences
with the FrontPage Extensions to this list (or another ISP list)
last year. He stated he mistakenly installed the extensions to make
one of his dial-up subscribers happy. And whoa! He soon found himself
spending over 50% of his time trying to support the FPExt, let alone
run his business.
 
Forgive my cynicism, but really, who has time to cater to the
continuing legacy of bugs, patches, so-called "challenges" and
fixes that spew forth from Microsoft? We certainly don't!

[If you want slack 'n' easy plug-in solutions for your dynamic
 Web needs, you sow what you reap, I suppose.]

We run umpteen Unix servers with nary a care, and TWO, count'em TWO
NT boxes. Guess which servers need constant baby-stting, reboots,
controlled shutdowns etc ;-) Oh, and data loss? Never lost
anything on a Unix box yet .. NT STILL DROPS FILES! Freezing?
Well, admittedly, Unix freezes once in a blue moon, and needs
as reboot. One of NT boxes freezes with the breezes. <SIGH>

Just think what life would be like if the (lack of) quality that
seems to apply as a defacto standard to products like Operating
Systems and Applications Software also applied to industries
such as medicine, aviation, communications, accounting, or
the law, to consider a few examples. We'd be running back to our
caves!  MS has a lot to answer for. Has anyone tried estimating
the total losses incurred by businesses world-wide due to their
flakey software? Must add up to $ TRILLIONS ;-]


L8R
Richard Welykochy

Dot Communications Ltd           tel: (02) 9281 1111
Level 19, 323 Castlereagh St     fax: (02) 9281 2219
Sydney NSW 2000