Jeff Lasman wrote:
On Monday 13 October 2003 07:16, Todd Schuldt wrote:
Full article at: URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5089977.html
<rant> So let me get this straight,
Rand Wacker, director of product strategy and planning for e-mail software maker Sendmail, says
<snip>
The attack on the software's filtering process highlights the dangers of open-source projects
</snip>
No. Read carefully, Wacker didn't say that, the author of the article did.
Wacker's comments didn't really attack Open Source, he just stated that SA was "built in a very transparent way" which resulted in "a lot of spam that is directly targeted at getting past SpamAssassin". It should be fairly obvious that SA is built in a transparant way. If you're involved in email and SA administration at a fairly busy site, you'll have observed that a lot of spam is directly targeted at getting past SA. Wacker simply connected the dots. Personally, I think SA's popularity has more to do with the concentrated targeting. If Sendmail's anti-spam product was found in as many sites as SA, it would be targeted more aggressively too.
The author of the article used the term "highlights the dangers of open-source projects", and interpreted Wacker's comments to mean that "the openness of the program's development allows spammers to develop tricks to fool the software".
The ironic portion of the story was that the advantages of Open Source development came from Microsoft, of all places:
"Jim Allchin, Microsoft's senior vice president for Windows, admitted in testimony during the Microsoft trial that switching Windows from a closed-source to an open-source development process would likely lead to a host of publicized security flaws."
Gee, I thought sendmail was pro open-source.Heh, I've been pro-Sendmail for a long time. The only thing that comes close to changing my mind is the "Why Commercial Sendmail?" page on sendmail.com. Basicly the answer is "Because we've made a concerted effort to make Sendmail unusable by mere mortals".
Does Wacky Wacker <smile> forget for a moment that the company that funds his paycheck is built on a product that's entirely open source?
I've learned something today.
To leave Sendmail behind. </rant>
Jeff
--Rich
_________________________________________________________
Rich Puhek ETN Systems Inc. 2125 1st Ave East Hibbing MN 55746
tel: 218.262.1130 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________
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