Re: file downloads

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance


"Gordon" <gordonbp1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e17ZUIFRFHA.2972@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Stephen Harris wrote:
>> The mature, intelligent, experienced, and competent provider of
>> computer services to the public realizes that the public's questions
>> require interpretation and education rather than ridicule.
>
> Well I for one would NEVER download a file that I didn't know how to open.
>
> --
> Gordon Burgess-Parker
> Interim Systems and Management Accounting
> www.gbpcomputing.co.uk

That is your right to decide that policy. But, why would you think you
should recommend that policy to somebody else, much less ridicule
somebody else who uses a sensible policy??

I'll give you a recent example. I wanted to use Xemacs which is a super
editor that has been ported from linux to windows xp. There are two
versions, a native and one which uses cygwin. The advantage is that it
is free and is excellent with rendering math equations (better than Word).

I've downloaded other linux ports from respectable distributors and
they often use a .gz extension for compression. I used Winzip to open
the files. Now at either the cygwin site or xemacs site, there was a
current port of Xemacs to win xp. The file extension was .tgz , so I
didn't know winzip would open it. But I think the correct policy is
to cross that bridge when you come to it, not to decide to "NEVER"
download the file because one isn't sure how it is opened. You seem
to assume that there is a risk that you can't open a file, that this is the
same as a risk that the file is contaminated. I think to implement an
efficient policy, one just needs to be fairly certain that the file is
secure.

Winzip failed to decompress the .tgz file.
So I could have looked up the ".tgz" extension and seen that Winrar
would open it on some enclyclopedia of file extensions. Instead I
just downloaded Winrar because I figured it was likely to handle
..tgz compression. And Winrar worked.

File downloads, the term, is not like email attachments where you
don't know the source of the attachement or it is more risky.
File downloads from a reliable source do not require knowing that
you can open the file format. It is inefficient to research this before
downloading a file from a reputable source. It is not even worth the
time to see what the default file extensions for win xp are. It is
quite safe to open files from trusted sites without knowing what
program is going to open it or even that it might require another
program to read that file. An unknown file type is not the same thing
as a file with a mysterious origin. Crackers put their virus in known
file types like .dbx not .crk unless they have your level of expertise.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: file downloads
    ... You do mean, of course, that you BOUGHT WinRar, then installed. ... > That is your right to decide that policy. ... > download the file because one isn't sure how it is opened. ... > time to see what the default file extensions for win xp are. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
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