Suggested addition to Security Forum Charter

anvilfour

Fed up to the teeth of so-called Security Gurus thinking they're being very clever when in response to a pertinent technical question say:

"Well if you want privacy you need to get rid of your computer and go live in a cave/never leave the house."

This may seem like a fairly self evident proposition but it ignores a few home truths such as :

- Keeping your data private is an achievable goal, subject to the amount of time and resources you are able and willing to allocate to it, certainly it is possible to protect your files from passive surveillance.

- It is usually an excuse to cover up the fact the poster doesn't know the answer to the question e.g I saw this on a thread once about how to secure OpenVPN.

- It tends to derail the discussion.

In case anyone thinks I am being facetious, I was mercilessly laid into by a Moderator on one of the Windows forums here on Boards once for suggesting a poster use a freeware app in Ubuntu to do what they needed to do. There's a specific injunction against ignoring the question and just saying, something like "why bother" or "Get a Mac".

Does anyone think there's justification for having a rule here to say enough with "cave" mentality and let's actually try and post useful information which will be helpful?

FSL

It sounds fine to me. Although I sometimes despair of people, who because they have anti-virus software installed, seem to turn off common sense when they turn on their computer.

syklops

"Dont be a dick" should be the only charter rule we need.

anvilfour

FSL wrote: »

It sounds fine to me. Although I sometimes despair of people, who because they have anti-virus software installed, seem to turn off common sense when they turn on their computer.

A good point FSL - I think some people think they should just download everything and the Antivirus software will stop them before executing anything harmful. It only seems to be much good after the fact!

anvilfour

syklops wrote: »

"Dont be a dick" should be the only charter rule we need.

I think you're right syklops, or at least it should be our golden rule. I don't know if people who say, "Uh just go live under a rock" are being stupid or whether they actually think they are being helpful, either way it just derails the discussion, particularly if they don't know the answer to the question!

moneymad

syklops wrote: »

"Dont be a dick" should be the only charter rule we need.

Ban the phrase dont be a dick? It sounds fcking stupid.

Does anyone think there's justification for having a rule here to say enough with "cave" mentality and let's actually try and post useful information which will be helpful?

The rule sounds like a good idea.

Khannie

I'll get back to ye, lads.

anvilfour

Khannie wrote: »

I'll get back to ye, lads.

That's all we can ask Khannie, thanks.

_Tombstone_

Where are the cave posts??