Grain of salt.
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| avasaralak Dec 10, 2005 7:58 AM EDT |
The opinion expressed by the author should be taken with a grain of salt considering that the author is more at ease with Windows XP. The number of security issues is not a good indicator. The seriousness of the issues should also be considered. For example I would consider a DOS exploit less serious than an exploit that silently sends my data out. |
| dinotrac Dec 10, 2005 8:20 AM EDT |
YAWN!!! Even if you were to accept the premise that simple numerical accounting of reported security porblems -- treating them all the same, regardless of severity -- provided a reasonable basis for comparing the security of two browsers, 83-25 looks like more than a 3-1 advantage for Firefox. And, of course, not all vulnerabilities are created equal. But here's a question: Since when did anyone claim Firefox would be perfect? Nobody claims that Firefox (or Linux, or any other software made by mere mortals) is absolutely "safe". The author (and other flacks) are trying to make this a binary equation: IE has holes, Firefox has holes, so what's the difference? Safer matters, even if it isn't perfect. |
| BrianS Dec 10, 2005 10:14 AM EDT |
To be honest (and accurate IMAO), some of these "Firefox vulnerabilities" are really Windows vulnerabilities. It used to be that you could surf the internet safely with Windows, by using the Center for Internet Security hardening templates (.reg entries to more sanely configure system file permissions and policies) and logging into Windows as a regular "User" (not Administrator). In this configuration, you can't even install updates to your browser plug-ins or access any files outside of your home directory, so spyware/adware/trojans quietly fail. :-) Unfortunately, one of M$ patches (right around October, I think) would stop your ability to log into the machine at all, if you had already applied the sane permissions to system files/directories with the CIS templates. Now your only safe surfing solution that doesn't require large expenditures (as viewed by the american middle class) is to run linux or BSD as a regular user, IMAO. (Mac OSX is BSD) At the risk of sounding a shill (at least I practice what I preach :-), I recommend people who want their computers to "just work" and want to surf safely, use Linspire, running as a normal user. In my arrogant opinion, BrianS |
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