Code and cars

Several years ago, John Gruber suggested one reason for the virus gap. Namely, that PC users are used to their computers loaded with adware, the sorts of things pre-installed on consumer-level Dells, HPs, and Sonys when they buy them. And so when malware arrives, it takes strong root, and isn't hunted down.

This is a very important difference, one thing that needs to be addressed before Windows becomes truely secure. But for better or worse, it won't. Simply clean installs won't solve the issue. A Mac user, or at least a large portion of them, expect their Mac to perform, to perform right, to 'just work.' For the PC, however, I've come to a theory, a theory which is great flame-bait, but an interesting theory nonetheless.

I think most PC users expect their computers to fail, and hold them to no standards of working. Not only that, but they view the PC as a machine, one that's supposed to break down.

I'm not sure if anyone ever reads these posts (Save for spambots and the search hits for wanting to break into Fords. Seriously) but there's been a sizable gap of posts. And honestly, I started writing Bit Rot back in February. Since then, there's been the iPhone release, and just this morning, Daring Fireball linked to Charlie Miller owning (in both senses of the word!) a MacBook Air. He also was able to already find exploits for the iPhone.

So why do I mention this? Well, in many ways, the iPhone is going to be a whole new data point. Since it's so popular, the argument of market share is going to be removed. And the user base is going to be so diverse as to make PEBKAC a real threat. So how is Apple going to ensure security on the iPhone? 100% unbreakable software is like magic pixie dust. You can get close to it, and it definitely shows up in advertisements, but it's not really feasible. And, for better or for worse, Apple keeps its cards really close to its chest. Perhaps for the better, because otherwise armchair iCEOing would be much less fun.

I am a computer programmer, a software engineer if you will, but I've had a different job of late. As the story goes, I graduated in '99, was in the industry full time for a few years, and was laid off. Then, after a while of contract work, I was job hunting and my car broke down. I'm a AAA member, and when I jokingly asked the tow truck driver if they were hiring, he said yes. I applied, and for the last four years, I've been driving a tow truck.

It's been fun, and I've gotten a lot of exercise, but I do want to fully return to the computer industry. One of the hardest parts, however, is selling myself, and explaining these last few years. To be honest, it's not mutually exclusive; I have been programming all this time. But at the same time, this is definitely the path less traveled by. For the most part, the computer industry is one of specialization, where there's more call for people with a specific set of knowledge than for people who are generalists.

This is a shame, because I believe that those who focus on one tiny subset of the field are at a disadvantage. I remember, years ago, a time back at my first job. It was a great company — small, with a lot of open communication — and I was rather fresh out of college. Their primary product ran on Windows NT exclusively, and was the brainchild of the CTO. Believe me when I say the CTO was a brilliant man, who knew both Windows and the product inside and out.

So believe my surprise when, during a group brainstorming for a new product that would be cross-platform, he admitted to having no knowledge of how Unix did file permissions, the read/write/execute bits that can be changed with chmod. Me, a new hire, knew something the CTO didn't!