[techtalk] About prettyphysicslady on the linuxchix techtalk list...

[Coinneach MacSandair]

Jeff,  

All right that's enough!  You are way out of line.

First, PrettyPhysicsLady is NOT being unreasonable.  It IS a back door.  And we're not talking about using boot floppies or recovery CD's or cracking the stupid case to erase the CMOS to override the BIOS password here -- we're talking about a serious mistake in the default shipping configuration of the operating system that is big enough to drive a bloody MacTruck through.  A complete newbie can have unchallenged root access to nearly any Linux box within 30 seconds without any hardware related measures at all.   If you're not smart enough to understand why people might be concerned about THAT -- then perhaps you should consider hiring a fourteen year old to handle your computer affairs for you.

It is entirely relevant to bring up Windows in comparison -- linux is directly vying with windows as a platform in the corporate workplace.  Suppose you or someone you know has been considering converting a small mom and pop business (substitute whatever you like here -- insurance company, NSA office, accounting firm, bank etc) over to linux because of its performance and stability -- that decision must now be tempered with the knowledge that you it isn't EVEN AS SAFE to leave a linux box out in public as it is to leave a Windows box there.  That's a big deal.   And it going to seriously hurt linux's chances of spreading beyond the techie community until problems like this one (and one must now presume the dozens of others that are also lurking there as yet undisclosed).

Third, I happen to know the woman whom you insulted.  She has undergraduate degrees in both physics and CS,  a graduate degree in computational physics -- you're dead wrong there.  

Fourth,  perhaps you should think a bit harder about what you are doing when you make sexist remarks about the presumed physical appearance and social habits of female scientists on women's forum of all places?  

Coinneach


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