__/ [ ed ] on Saturday 09 September 2006 13:27 \__
> On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:32:52 +0100
> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>
http://www.spywarehunter.org/entry/even-sky-is-not-a-limit-for-malware-authors/
>>
>> That'll be more SPAM, attacks on Web sites, and increased maintenance
>> costs.
>
> Substitute "increased maintenance costs" with 'TCO'
I think it would be deceiving. TCO is more naturally ascribed to the affected
machines -- the first-hand experience. The maintenance costs I have in mind
are those that affect innocent victims/bystanders:
* Us Linux users, who absorb enormous amounts of SPAM. That SPAM is passively
spewed out by our Windows-hogging friends. The vast majority of SPAM
originates from Windows botnets that are orchastrated by a criminal.
* ISP's, who will need to maintain more equipment, filter traffic, and
receive beeper alarms when a site falls victim to an attack
* Us Linux users, who /may/ be running Web sites (DDOS attacks, comment spam
in blogs, etc.)
* Us Linux users who pay the ISP's (see above). The bill is raised because it
take /far/ more rigour and resources to run a network, let alone keep it
online.
So, yes. Windows zombies raise TCO to those with the inflected computers. But
the expense is a collective punishment which raises TCO for everyone. This
makes computing more expensive, more error prone, and more deterring (how do
you like it when your inbox comprises 95% SPAM?).
Windows thrives on a culture of waste. SPAM is very much reprentative of that
waste. And it's very much like producing power while burying nuclear waste
that's a timebomb. The plan is to have more of the same.
Windows X-cuse -- an excuse to drop Windows XP SP2 in favour of Service Pack
III, AKA Vista, AKA Longhorn (whose reputation was already mucked, thus the
rename). Maybe if they do another transition in naming, then the whole Vista
fiasco (out there in Google searches) will /temporarily/ vanish.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | McDonald's does to diet what Microsoft does to PC's
http://Schestowitz.com | Free as in Free Beer ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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