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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: AOL fixing Microsoft default settings
Thankfully our focus is hosting & Colo, not access, so our pool is smaller and (theoretically) smarter. However this hasn't stopped us from doing similar things (such as disable/remove proxy server software) on client computers. Too many times I have called a client and asked "Why are you running a proxy server?" only to hear the reply "What's a proxy server?" (sigh)How many other ISPs intend to follow AOL's practice and use their connection support software to fix the defaults on their customer's Windows computers? I suppose I don't bother our clients with a clue, as their servers are already configured properly, and I am just protecting our clueless clients from themselves (or more accurately protecting my network from my clueless clients.) Where it gets weird is when you take advantage of one privilege (like a software installer) to make other changes (disabling services) without permission. (I won't even touch the thick legal-ese of most EULA's which usually force the user to grant this permission beforehand) Where does it stop being "helpful" and start being "harmful"?... As in Microsoft infamous disabling of competitor's products with their installers? Then the question becomes "who is being harmed?" I guess... the end-user or the competitor(s)? Where I draw the line is the security of my own network, which granted is a pretty self-contained little world, unlike so may others here on NANOG. On the other hand, I also have a .sig which is a quote from one of my staff, which illustrates another slippery factor of this particular slope... --chuck goolsbee -- ______________________________________________________ There's only so much stupidity you can compensate for; there comes a point where you compensate for so much stupidity that it starts to cause problems for the people who actually think in a normal way. -Bill, digital.forest tech support
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