A soap opera is playing out on the mailing lists of several security newsgroups this morning, complete with people hiding behind pseudonyms, people “outing” one another and rumors of death threats against the major players. At stake? A possible worm for Apple’s Mac OS X operating system.
Oh, dear… Artie MacStrawman strikes again.
(for those not familiar with the fictional Apple zealot character: http://www.crazyapplerumors.com/?p=664)
Edit: this Macalope entry is priceless, too: http://www.macalope.com/?p=171
Edited 2007-07-19 22:14
Nothing new, sadly. I’m sure old-time readers of Wired magazine remember back when Nicholas Negroponte wrote their back-page column – and the histrionic reaction of Mac fans when he dared to mention that he had switched to Windows for his main desktop (he had been a Mac user previously).
Its unfortunate when people turn computers from being a tool to get work done to something of a cult like lifestyle which one dedicates their life to ‘protect and venerate’.
I’m not joking about this, but if there are people here who do get the point where a computer becomes some all emcompassing aspect of their life – in all honesty, you need to get some help, talk to someone about it because believe me is unhealthy and no one benefits from this fanaticism, especially when it comes to the individual concerned.
I’m not joking about this, but if there are people here who do get the point where a computer becomes some all emcompassing aspect of their life – in all honesty, you need to get some help, talk to someone about it because believe me is unhealthy and no one benefits from this fanaticism, especially when it comes to the individual concerned.
Exactly, kaiwai.
I did not report on the original vulnerability this whole soap stems from (despite it being submitted to our backend a few times), simply because there was no actual code to show the vulnerability actually existed and worked.
And then I read the reactions from the Mac community. And for a moment there, I felt ashamed I’m part of it (I own several Macs, and really, really like OSX).
…but it got me thinking that writing a virus is really bad karama.
must be a slow day at cnet….
Well that would have been the first thing I would have done.
I think I should write an article about how Mac OS X causes cancer. I bet OS News picks it up.
Hacker Factor Solutions has a Gender Guesser??
That’s amazing!
I must play around with this.
No one could be that stupid!
Wait.
The majority of people who don’t use Linux, BSD, OSX and other *nix-like operating systems generally are with rare exception.
Nevermind.
Edited 2007-07-20 05:41
That’s what we call active security in the mac community.
No need of an antivirus, we just kill the virus authors.
Seems like a case of “make a noise, be heard”. Some people don’t like some other people creating publicity / ad-revenue stunts off of security exploits.
This story doesn’t have enough credibility.
Some guy posts an anonymous claim devoid of substantiating details and wonders why people threw rotten tomatoes? I mean come on… get real.
Also, how funny it is for a supposed security researcher to have his blog hacked?
Actually calling these people “security researchers” is an insult to all the professionals who actually do relevant and professional research. Anyone can put up a blog and claim whatever they want, without showing proof or identifying themselves.
Until there is proper evidence, these Mac OS X security stories are just a source of ongoing amusement.
In short: Yet another faker… Does he also have a WiFi driver hack to show us?
“Anyone can put up a blog and claim whatever they want, without showing proof or identifying themselves. ”
Bonus points if you remember “Gobbles”.
“And then I read the reactions from the Mac community”
Come one, this is the crazy behavior of some fanatics guys who are so bored that they did not find anything better than to get foolish on the net. They have nothing to do with what you call the mac community, you are not even sure that they are mac users, they can be anyone.
Trying to generalize and to associate the term “mac community” with those reactions is as crazy as the content of those reactions. This is exactly what other zealots are waiting for, next time everyone who will try to speak about Apple will be then treated as mac fanboy or crazy mac lover because of this kind of association and image that such comments try to build up.
Hakime, I 100% agree.
The Mac “community” comprises of millions of individuals (many of who are also coincidentally part of the Windows, Linux, etc communities). They work in many fields and have probably as many viewpoints on issues as there are members.
And I doubt very much that even 1% of this community is even aware of this issue. Most people use their computers as tools or entertainment, not as religious idols.
A few posts here or on other forums cannot in any way be considered representative of a community – of any community (unless that community is limited to just a very few indviduals).
I’m not ashamed of being part of the Mac community, simply because the opinions expressed in several of the posts above are not mine. And so I have nothing to be ashamed of.
i know people can grow attached to their os and thats fine. but there is a point in which attatchment meets obsesion….the crusades come to mind
The Mac-o-lytes (the religious-like fanatics) are obsessed. They even attack other Mac users who don’t believe everything they do. I was attacked because I didn’t like the Safari browser and I still don’t like it but obsession is a fact of life for certain computer users.
Who knows whether anything would actually happen but I believe that the obsessed are too busy with their computers to actually do anything to a virus writer, even if he was in the next room.
Seriously, folks, how much Kool-Aid do you have to drink from the cooler at Cult-of-Mac before you make death threats against researchers?
Well, they seem to have figured out an interesting way to keep the Mac free of viruses, haven’t they?