Forrester's Split Personality
A week or two ago Forrester Research raised a stink with a report saying that
enterprise uptake of Vista was
more
anemic than a German POW. Microsoft spat back that other Forrester analysts
have a more upbeat view of Vista. Funny thing was, a Microsoft exec blogged
about the company's misgivings and got
hammered
in comments from real Vista users.
Now Forrester has a new
report from a different analyst with a different perspective. Analyst Benjamin
Gray blames the economy for poor Vista adoption, an argument I don't understand.
As I mention in my next item, it costs more money to buy a new machine and downgrade
to XP than it does to just keep Vista.
Gray expects more corporations to make the Vista move due to better security,
and suggests that IT "migrate to Vista sooner rather than later."
Is Vista ready now? Is Gray on to something, or just on something? Thoughts
welcome at [email protected].
More Good News on IT Spending
At the risk of sounding like a broken record (or a skipping CD), there's good
news about IT spending. I've written about several reports pointing to higher
IT budgets. Research powerhouse Gartner is weighing in, reporting that overall
spending is up
around 8 percent.
What are you spending money on? Security? Services? New apps? Or just keeping
things running? Details may be sent to [email protected].
IT Lost an Advocate
I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but kept putting it off.
It's not easy or fun to write about a loss. An old boss of mine passed away.
You may ask what that means to you. Well, that
boss was Ed Foster, creator of InfoWorld's Gripe Line, a column that
took vendors to task for rampant rip-offs, poor products and shoddy support.
Foster wrote this column for years, crafting countless words and putting vendors
on notice. Ed left us late last month.
Were you a Foster fan? Is there anyone else that is filling this large void?
Thoughts welcome at [email protected].
Mailbag: Red Hat Security, More
Readers share their thoughts on open source security in general, and the recent
Red
Hat hack in particular:
I think that Red Hat getting hacked was a good thing. I am a die-hard
Linux user, but I do not go with the crowd that thinks that if you are using
any non-Microsoft OS, then you are safe from bad ware. Humans make mistakes;
the software that we create will have bugs, and bugs lead to holes, and holes
are how the bad boys get in. The sooner everyone starts thinking about security,
the better.
I have to admit that I do feel safer using Linux and Firefox while I
am surfing the Web, just as the people in the Twin Towers felt safe on Sept.
11, 2001, just before the planes hit.
-Raymond
I have countered for years that Mac and open source operating systems
are not targets -- not because they are so secure, but because there were
so few of them. The more that are out there, the more they will be hacked.
The hackers want quantity. It only makes sense that they will concentrate
their efforts where they will get the most results for the least amount of
work.
-Bernie
It is Microsoft's licensing that really burns me up, not so much whether
it has a better product than others. I'm not sure why those who clamor around
Microsoft don't get that. While there have been some who have made silly claims
about open source and its security, at least a company that uses FOSS or OSS
can hire someone (if they don't possess in-house talent) to review code to
ensure that everything is up to snuff. I have a few clients who have done
just that with Internet-facing Linux systems -- and it is one thing you cannot
do with closed source, no matter who it is. And that is the difference and
is why I will always look for an open source alternative for anything I use
and recommend.
-Anonymous
And Doug's dad gets the final word on professors teaching
students how to hack:
Interesting comments on the hackers. Although I consider hackers and
scammers the enemy, you do have to understand the enemy if you want to have
a chance to defeat him. However, one area which seemed to be ignored was the
use of information gained by hacking. Helping riders get free lifetime transportation
on the T is certainly not an appropriate use. When we discovered weaknesses
in military installation security, we went to the responsible organization
so they could correct them.
-Dad
Check in tomorrow for more reader letters! And if you want to share some of
your own comments, fill out the form below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
About the Author
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.