RE: TBTF for 11/10/97: Blum Blum Shub

Robert S. Thau (rst@ai.mit.edu)
Thu, 13 Nov 1997 10:45:49 -0500 (EST)


Joe Barrera writes:
> P.S. one *could* argue that a fix is much more urgent in Unix
> environments, with random clients telnetting or xterming into the server
> to run their code there, than in Windows environments where the servers
> aren't used for client computation.

One could, if one were not concerned at all about crashes on the
client machines. ActiveX makes it possible to coerce many peoples'
desktop machines into running hostile machine code with an ease
unparalleled in any Unix environment that I'm aware of.

BTW, at most well-run Unix environments that I've been in lately,
logging into file servers directly for any purposes other than
administrative work is pretty strongly discouraged. Machines which
are explicitly meant to be cycle servers (say, running code on a fast
machine, which displays graphic results on the user's less expensive
desktop) are a different matter, of course... but in a Windows
environment, you're right, that simply can't be done.

(Apologies, Joe... I know that the ActiveX name has been dropped, but
I can't for the life of me remember what your marketing department is
calling it these days).

rst