[OT] Zen and the Art of Computer Maintenance [Was: Re: Traffic routed through Sweden]

["F. Fox" <kitsune.or@xxxxxxxxx>]

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Juliusz Chroboczek wrote:
>> **: FWIW and IMHO, I believe that much of the privacy and security of
>> clients not only has to be, but *should be* left to them. Stopping
>> Darwin and bottle-feeding those with inferior skills and/or capacity
>> only drags down the human race. Those who can, will learn; those who
>> cannot, will suffer the consequences.
> 
> I cannot but strongly disagree with that notion.
> 
> I expect my automobile vendor and my car mechanic to guarantee my
> safety while I know little more about cars than how to check the
> tyres' pressure.  I expect the people who built the bridges in my area
> to guarantee that they won't fall down without me needing to know much
> about statics.  And I expect to be able to go from Calais to Dover by
> ferry without knowing anything about ship buidling.
> 
> This is not to say that we should guarantee anything at the exit-node
> level, but please don't take the elitist attitude that your car
> mechanic, your civil engineer and your ship-builder should know whether
> AES-128 is more or less secure than Blowfish.
> 
>                                         Juliusz
> 

I didn't mean to imply that everyone should have enough technical
knowledge to discern the similarities or differences between ciphers;
however, there are basic premises that everyone involved with something
should know.

For example, a layman wouldn't know about how to diagnose or treat skin
cancer, but they should know that too much sun exposure and too little
water are bad for the human body in desert heat.

To use your mechanic analogy: Surely, a layman wouldn't know how to take
apart the vital systems of a car and work on them; they should, however,
 keep the radiator filled, check the oil once in a while, and maybe
check the tire pressure.

I don't think it's too much for the average computer user to know that
if they fill their computer up with crap - particularly shady programs,
and/or programs which start on boot - that their computer's going to run
like molasses at the South Pole in July. It'd be like trying to run a
high-performance car on the crappiest gasoline one could find, cut with
kerosene or something.

- --
F. Fox
AAS, CompTIA A+/Network+/Security+
Owner of Tor node "kitsune"
http://fenrisfox.livejournal.com
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