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Re: opportunities
Date: Tue Jun 24 2003 - 15:19:20 EDT
Nick Holland wrote:
> As with most forms of enlightenment, when people are ready for it,
I agree, though often enlightenment meets people in the middle.
It was like the popularization of the Internet, circa 1989. The Net had been in the news, there was a genuine media buzz about it, large numbers of people knew that it was something big and important. It was also remote, reserved for academics and researchers, not at all understood, definitely not popular media. Almost no consumers were seeking out enlightenment about this mysterious Internet thing by actually trying it. They were comfortable with what the magazines told them about it.
Then along came (our own) Delphi. We seized upon popular curiosity about the Internet and a) made the Net relevant to peoples' lives by putting it in their own context and b) showing how they could actually have it, i.e. offering them an opportunity to subscribe.
Then of course Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought Delphi and.... well, we won't go into that.
> People like buzzwords.
People respond to buzzwords, labels, packaging. But then, doesn't that include everybody, in different contexts? I'm not a gardening expert, I tend to wander around Home Depot reading labels about seeds and soils and fertilizer and I probably make decisions that would cause a real horticulture expert to roll their eyes. But I have limited time and mental space to devote to my garden. I know that if I don't let myself be guided by labels then I probably won't get around to planting this year.
> "Doing it right in the first place" isn't sexy. Code audits aren't
> fun. Starting from the top and doing it again when you find something
> new to look for is even less fun. Dealing with third-party software
> with "issues" is not fun.
>
> Waving a buzzword, and slapping "hardened" on your product...now
I'm not suggesting that the OpenBSD development effort should suddenly change its course to accommodate the plug n play user, I'm just interested in a separate services effort that helps the semi-adventurous consumer discover what OBSD has to offer, without having to read all the docs.
> It certainly isn't just operating systems. One of my "favorite"
> examples is RAID. People love to put RAID systems in, and say, "I'm
> protected", and yet, have NO idea what happens when an event they were
> supposedly "protected" from happens.
So RAID is another set of technologies that can't possibly deliver on all the expectations that vendors and others have set. Doesn't that just argue for an effort to improve both expectations and products, to get them to meet in the middle?
> People making decisions on complex issues want quick buzzwords so they
> don't have to learn the real issues behind a topic.
True, people are lazy. People are also busy. I have no problem providing a service to people who are too busy to learn what I know. Even people who are too lazy, for that matter.
> Managers want a "Secure firewall for company security", then want AOL
I know, it's funny, isn't it? I mean the very word "tunnel" says it all. A tunnel is a structure that's pretty impermeable in the middle and wide open at the ends.
> They demand "security", then install wireless "because it is handy" (or
more
> likely, cool).
So OK, what's wrong with making wireless security easier and more pervasive? People have a right to want cool toys. The question is, how do we help them make their toys safer?
> I don't think any of the developers on the OpenBSD project WANT to be
I completely agree. So what's wrong with giving them guidance on what applications they should and shouldn't have? After all, this is the OBSD *Advocacy* list. And if being of service means opportunity, then so much the better.
> When people learn what needs to happen, they'll find us.
>
> Even though I wouldn't mind the ability to whisper in everyone's ear:
> "There is an alternative" just to remind them that they ARE in control
> of their situation, most people would still prefer the familiarity of
> their blue screens and Freecell over a more robust alternative. They
> can gripe and moan all they want about "quality", but until they vote
> with their actions rather than their mouths, it doesn't matter.
Once again, I cite my Delphi Internet experience. We met them in the middle. And it was a very rewarding experience. If we had been allowed to follow through on it we would have been the ones buying Time Warner... oh there I go again... slap...
> You can't "push" secure computing (or quality software) on people.
> Look at the number of people that are regularly asking about SMP
> support in OpenBSD. How many people begged for Propolice? How many
> people begged for priv-sep'd Apache or OpenSSH? W^X? Few. But lots
> of people are worried about the coolness of getting that second
> processor on their old PPro200 going, even though it could be
> outperformed by a modern $200 computer, even though it could bring on
> all kinds of new security issues (don't quote me on that, I'm not
> studied on the issues of MP design) the $200 computer doesn't have.
> But, SMP is a buzzword...so people want it. In OpenBSD. Because.
OK, that's why I wrote the consumer version of my (forthcoming) book. That's what audience education and market education are all about, helping the thought leaders and semi-adventurous users who maybe don't have the time, inclination or energy to dig into this stuff but who nevertheless could benefit from it. True, the masses didn't beg for the great stuff in OBSD 3.3. One of the themes in my book, a chapter title in fact, is Knowing What To Ask For.
> Look at how many people who stamp their feet and say, "Well, if you
Hey, that's how the marketplace works. What's wrong with wanting a familiar user interface? What if a compelling case were suddenly made for substituting VMS commands for Unix commands? Would Unix users suddenly say, there's a better user interface, I must switch to it right away? Or would they insist on their familiar command structure?
Wes Kussmaul
www.village.com
www.pkipress.com
Received on Tue Jun 24 15:28:54 2003
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed Aug 23 2006 - 13:29:30 EDT
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