For my Mac friends: OH MY GOD! A Panther PROBLEM! A link from BoingBoing. Which really leads to the reason for this post. Cory writes "I stand corrected -- this effects Mozilla, too."
My internal editor said "affects." I found a lesson that seems to also point to affect.
What do you think?
The way I understand this is this exploit doesn't affect/effect Mozilla or any other browser. It uses them. What is affected is the users Home folder. The effect is your screwed and will have to spend a lot of time undoing the damage. There's my two cents.
Why Apple ignores these thing I'll never understand. Steve's view from the ivory tower must be a nice one. This has been an ongoing criticism of Apple. They bring out the "We're using Open Source code" flag and wave it, but when it comes to accepting and acknowledging help from the developer community they slam the door in their face. Oh well, at least my PowerMac never crashes, mostly.
There's another fix for this exploit at http://isophonic.net. It's called "Don't Go There GURLfriend."
# Posted by: David at May 19, 2004 10:49 AM
David I have to respectfully disagree with your conclusions.
You are correct, the trick uses a browser (like Mozilla or Safari) to execute a script that is passed as part of a cookie or similar "allowed" file loaded on home computer. The script is simple code to delete contents of the home folder on user's computer. The fix, without any downloaded code, is to disable autorun of scripts by browser.
The conclusions about Steve (Jobs) and his ivory tower and Apple ignoring developer community are way too broad. Sure Steve's opinion of Steve is really high; we'd all be that way in his shoes. That doesn't constitute slamming the door on the developer community.
They don't claim to be perfect, but a couple of security issues is far better than the nightmare of patches in the Window world. OS X isn't going to be perfect, neither is Linux; but they do seem to be holding up FAR better than bloated Windows. And before you say it, what else is there than to compare?
Wil
# Posted by: Wil at May 19, 2004 01:38 PM
You're right. I guess my frustration stems from this exploit being reported to Apple in February, if the reports I read are correct. It's May and they haven't fixed it.
I love Apple. If I had to use Windows in order to be a designer I would probably find something else to do. The fact is that Apple has a hard enough time keeping its 3% market share or whatever it is now. When reports like this surface it only fuels resistance to the platform. When these problems are reported to Apple they should respond swiftly and responsibly. So many times their response is silence. There should not be third-party fixes hitting the streets before Apple even publicly acknowledges there's a problem.
I love Steve Jobs. I think he's a brilliant man. I tend to hold him to a higher standard though. I guess that's not really fair, but I think with all the accolades he gets he can stand a little criticism.
# Posted by: David at May 20, 2004 10:14 AM
You're right. I guess my frustration stems from this exploit being reported to Apple in February, if the reports I read are correct. It's May and they haven't fixed it.
I love Apple. If I had to use Windows in order to be a designer I would probably find something else to do. The fact is that Apple has a hard enough time keeping its 3% market share or whatever it is now. When reports like this surface it only fuels resistance to the platform. When these problems are reported to Apple they should respond swiftly and responsibly. So many times their response is silence. There should not be third-party fixes hitting the streets before Apple even publicly acknowledges there's a problem.
I love Steve Jobs. I think he's a brilliant man. I tend to hold him to a higher standard though. I guess that's not really fair, but I think with all the accolades he gets he can stand a little criticism.
# Posted by: David at May 20, 2004 10:15 AM
You're right. I guess my frustration stems from this exploit being reported to Apple in February, if the reports I read are correct. It's May and they haven't fixed it.
I love Apple. If I had to use Windows in order to be a designer I would probably find something else to do. The fact is that Apple has a hard enough time keeping its 3% market share or whatever it is now. When reports like this surface it only fuels resistance to the platform. When these problems are reported to Apple they should respond swiftly and responsibly. So many times their response is silence. There should not be third-party fixes hitting the streets before Apple even publicly acknowledges there's a problem.
I love Steve Jobs. I think he's a brilliant man. I tend to hold him to a higher standard though. I guess that's not really fair, but I think with all the accolades he gets he can stand a little criticism.
# Posted by: David at May 20, 2004 11:23 AM
David, don't you just love how the comments engine manages to post several times - I guess it is going for emphasis. ;-) It drives me nuts some times.
Seriously though, I agree with you're frustration. Apple can be such a butt (oops, bad word) about certain things. But, hey as users of the platform, we can say what we want. It's like fighting with a brother; you're allowed to curse them, beat them up, etc - but no one else better do it or they'll have to deal with you.
By the way domoni, what affect has this Mac centric discussion had on you? The effect on me has been enlightening! :-) I read the grammar, but did I get it right?!
# Posted by: Wil at May 20, 2004 05:37 PM
domoni's probably going to tell us to take it outside.
# Posted by: David at May 22, 2004 11:39 AM
Ever the Libertarian, I think he'll put up with us. He just won't bother to comment. Except for a reference to Amiga........ ;-)
# Posted by: Wil at May 24, 2004 01:53 AM
