[LINK] Identity theft virus infects 10,000 computers

[Karl Auer]

On Thu, 2006-08-17 at 16:22 +1000, Craig Sanders wrote:
> no, fuck it! i'm sick and fucking tired of everything in this world
> catering exclusively to morons and incompetents. and i'm sick and tired
> of all the arguments for mediocrity.
> 
> that's WHY i like free software. it's written BY smart people FOR smart
> people, and isn't dumbed down by marketing jerks for the larger consumer
> market.

Whoa! I don't think anyone is saying that software of any stripe has to
be idiot-proof. It *should* however, be tough, robust, and as correct as
it's makers can reasonably make it. If it isn't, there *should* be a way
for the damaged party to have redress - and that is a feedback loop that
will make for ever-better software. Whether this should apply to free
software is the question - I'm not sure on that point yet. 

A car isn't idiot-proof, you can still kill yourself in one. But within
the limits of physics, cars have been made pretty safe, and they are
getting safer. They are also easier to drive. Synchromesh, automatics
etc. It's pretty hard to slam any modern car into reverse while
travelling forwards, for example. It's hard to slam the door on your
fingers when getting in or out. It's harder to leave the headlights on,
the keys in the ignition or a door open while driving. These things
didn't cost that much money, they just cost a little thought.

That doesn't remove the driver's responsibility, but it makes them safer
and makes them safer for others. That's a good thing. If the car could,
as as result of these improvements, only move at 3kph, or had to be as
big as a house, then perhaps there would be cause to reject them as
antithetical to the actual purpose of the thing, but they are not.

Likewise noone wants dumbed down software; they DO want software that
does what it says it will do (without hiding behind a "contract" that
says it is warranted to do nothing and be fit for nothing). And they DO
want software that doesn't do things it did NOT say it would do, like
"phone home" or delete all your files.

I think it's appropriate to distinguish between a gift and a pay-for
product. While a poisoned chalice - like a virus - can and should be
(and is) actionable even if free, paid-for software can and should (but
doesn't) have to follow some basic rules of fit-for-purpose, like any
other product. Whether free software should to is the big question. It's
unrelated to "dumbing down" though...

> no, you get some perspective. the fact that stupid people are in the
> majority is no reason to cater exclusively to them. non-stupid people
> have needs too.

You are putting words in people's mouths, Craig. Slow down!

Regards, K.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)                   +61-2-64957160 (h)
http://www.biplane.com.au/~kauer/                  +61-428-957160 (mob)