Linux guru warns on security in open-source code

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Yes but????

Isn't that much like 3rd party vendors stuffing windows holes? Won't problems like that be addressed by security patches for whatever oss you are using?
And if it's a site specific incident, isn't there a downside to maintaining OS level code in house? That is one more thing you must be aware of when programmning on the system, and you may have to change the logic more than once over time. I pity the future programmers that have to deal with a system like that? True? (This is equivalent to a proprietary system having a high level report writer, just as an example. Everytime the underlying software is upgraded you must scan all of your reports to make sure they still conform if there has been any database structure mods, logic mods that change the way your hardcoded report will work etc.) I even once worked on a system that was proprietary but they gave you the source with the system for inhouse modification only. What a nightmare to maintain during every service pack cycle. It got so bad I had to travel to the vendor and work with them the get the logic changes addressed in the custom and all other changes. That site was not doing extensive inhouse mods, but it was still 2 weeks of work that was doing nothing more than supporting the update. I didn't see it as productive time in a sense that they were paying me for. It was pure maintenance. That is the big downside to having access to the source. I worked with that system on multiple sites over a number of years and it became known as more of a curse than a blessing.

Posted by: April May   Posted on: 10/27/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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