[TAG] Talkback:123/smith.html

[Benjamin A. Okopnik]

[ Adding TAG back to the CC list ]

Willem, please reply to the Answer Gang address rather than individuals;
I'd appreciate it if you followed basic list protocol. If you'd like,
there's a fairly good FAQ at "Asking Questions of The Answer Gang" at
<http://linuxgazette.net/tag/ask-the-gang.html>.

On Mon, Feb 20, 2006 at 06:47:12PM -0000, Willem Steyn wrote:
> Thanks for the quick reply.
> 
> Sorry about the HTML formatting - my email program ( OUTLOOK ) by default
> sends it as HTML.

Thanks for turning it off.

> Unfortunately, IE is out there, and I have no control over what browser type
> is being used by the user.

I agree; you're usually not going to have control over what your client
uses for a browser. However, using a fundamentally-broken browser is
going to result in problems; being surprised that it doesn't work is,
well, at least a little odd.

Basically, if I tell a client of mine to do X to fix a problem, and they
decide that approach Y is (cheaper|easier|more fun|preferred by the
CEO's brother-in-law|etc), then come to me in a panic because approach Y
doesn't work, I'm going to have to charge them extra - not because I'm
trying for some kind of revenge, but because the cost now includes not
only the installation of solution X but also the removal of solution Y.
If you tell your client not to use IE, and they continue to do so...
[shrug] then they've got a problem, and you don't. *Not* telling them to
avoid it _is_ creating problems for yourself, and that's pretty much the
scope of it.

In my very limited experience with IE, my (admittedly non-expert) take
on the problem you're asking about is that it can't be done without
adjusting those "security settings" - which you've already said you
don't want to do. Therefore, from my perspective, your question _can't_
be answered as posed - except to fix the incidental problem of the
messages that pop up, which is easily addressed by using a different
browser.

What I'm saying is that *real*, effective security solutions do not
happen at the browser level. Trying to implement security there is
solving the wrong problem - somewhat like spending lots of money on a
fancy steering wheel lock for your car when the local car thieves are
known to steal cars exclusively by towing them.


* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://linuxgazette.net *