RE: Re: Hypothetical design question

["Carl G. Alphonce" <alphonce () cse Buffalo EDU>]

on Friday January 30, 2004, Nick Lothian wrote:
> > > the user community has grown very fond of some of the very
> > > features that viruses and worms thrive on (e.g., file attachments
> > > that can be executed with a single/double click of a mouse)
> >
> > I don't think this is quite true.  I think most users want to __view__
> > attachments, either pictures or text.  They expect the viewer to be
> > Word, Powerpoint Paint, etc.  They don't expect, when they click on an
> > attachment, to __execute__ it.
>
> I feel the distinction between "view" and "execute" is no longer as clear as
> we would like it to be. I don't think I can necessarily distinguish between
> them anymore - I certainly can't explain the distinction.
>
> If you open a Word document, are you executing it? How about an Excel
> spreadsheet that contains calculations? Try explaining to a home user the
> difference between macros and calculations in a spreadsheet.

You certainly both view and execute a postscript document.  I think
the relevant distinction concerns what operations can be performed as
a result of viewing.  If the viewer permits only a limited set of
"safe" operations to be performed, viewing a document (interpreting
its instructions) is presumably safe.  If the viewer does something
silly, such as granting unrestricted access to the underlying OS,
viewing a document is risky business.  I think it's obvious that you
don't want the OS to be your viewer :-)

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Carl Alphonce                            [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dept of Computer Science and Engineering (716) 645-3180 x115 (tel)
University at Buffalo                    (716) 645-3464      (fax)
Buffalo, NY 14260-2000                   www.cse.buffalo.edu/~alphonce