____/ nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on Sunday 26 August 2007 23:46 : \____
> <Quote>
> By Carla Schroder
>
> What's the real reason for closed, proprietary code? Embarrassment.
>
> [usual excused for closed source code...]
>
> But that's all a smokescreen to cover up the real reason: to hide
> code of such poor quality that even PHBs know to be embarrassed.
> Exhibit A: Windows itself. Which proves it takes more than throwing
> billions of dollars and thousands of programmers at a software project
> to build something that is actually good.
>
> Diebold, Champion of Ugly Bad Code
>
> [Bad ugly code, not just ugly bad code, at Diebold...]
>
> Number three on our hit parade is Samsung's infamous binary Linux
> printer driver. Oh, that one's a knee-slapper. The installer- I am not
> making this up-changes the permissions on key Linux system
> directories, and replaces a batch of executables with setuid wrapper
> scripts. setuid means ordinary unprivileged users can run these
> executables with rootly powers. So installing the Samsung printer
> driver comes with a fun double whammy: screwed-up permissions and
> local privilege escalation! Yay! Now that's some compact coding.
>
> [She tries Samsung driver herself, and confirms everything...]
>
> So OpenOffice and your scanner tools launch with root privileges for
> ordinary users without asking for a password. In effect, it's a built-
> in rootkit. But that's not all. It also changes the owner on /etc, /
> usr, /etc/sane.d/, /usr/lib/, and /usr/lib/sane/ to an unprivileged
> user instead of root. That is some seriously perverse ingenuity...
>
> System BIOS
>
> [incompetence in usual BIOS's...responsible for much of boot time on
> both Windows and Linux...]
>
> Contrast this with the OpenBIOS project, which takes a different
> approach. OpenBIOS assumes the operating system is going to do the
> work, so all the BIOS needs to do is get the machine to a state where
> the OS can take over. The Linux kernel is a lot faster at detecting
> hardware and loading drivers; it doesn't need an antique moldy BIOS
> getting in the way. We don't need to see inside that little bit of
> code to know that it isn't pretty- the way it functions speaks for
> itself....
>
> Moldy Binaries
>
> Way too many of the closed-source applications and drivers for Linux
> don't even try to keep up. NoMachine's Linux server and client, for
> one example, rely on an ancient version of libstdc++ that sends you
> wandering all over Google trying to locate a copy of it. Most printer
> vendors don't even try: Given a choice between vendor-supplied drivers
> and reverse-engineered CUPS drivers, you're almost always better off
> with the CUPS drivers. Which is pretty amazing considering how few of
> these have any sort of vendor support.
>
> Closed-to-Open Horrors
>
> [Stories of how bad the code was when Netscape and Staroffice opened
> up their code...major efforts of early Firefox and Openofffice was to
> clean up the mess...]
> </Quote>
>
> http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netos/article.php/3696296
Yes, I know about Netscape. It was chaotic and not modular. You could probably
see it was an 'ugly hack' rather than something made for a group of people to
collaborate with and on. When reuse is involved, there's elegance and
modularity. They are just natural. WordPress is a project that I'm very
familiar and involved with, so I saw how entire libraries (or packages) get
grafted and then used through APIs (they get updated in isolation, so there's
no cascading effect). Nothing like this can be achieve by a single company
working in isolation. Therein lies the strength of Linux as well. Microsoft
patented the modular operating system last year (or 2 years ago). Was it not
aware of prior art?
Also, have a look at that chart which shows system calls in IIS and Apache.
It's priceless. Apache is a pyramid of dependencies whereas IIS is like a ball
of wool.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Useless fact: There are five regular polyhedra
http://Schestowitz.com | Open Prospects | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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http://iuron.com - knowledge engine, not a search engine
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