MSDN Blog Embroiled In Slashdot Flame War

Microsoft's Peter Torr has an MSDN blog post about his experience with Firefox. Although Firefox is perceived as more secure than Microsoft Internet Explorer, as he points out, many of IE's security features are not present in Firefox, especially the digital signing of downloads and warnings about malicious programs. Whether or not IE is less secure than Firefox is a question that begs investigation (sheer number of viruses proves nothing, since IE is attacked as the top browser), but the absense of warning dialogs is something Firefox should address. He also bemoans the fact that Firefox is downloaded from mirrors, a process that is 50 miles west of safe, and that there's no easy way to turn off some plugins.

But that's only the beginning of the story.

The post got slashdotted:

How Can I Trust Firefox?

Posted by timothy on Monday December 20, @09:11PM
from the how-could-anyone-trust-ie? dept.
TheRealSlimShady writes "Peter Torr (who?) from Microsoft invites a certain flamewar with his essay 'How can I trust Firefox?' He raises some interesting security related points about the download and installation of Firefox, some of which should probably be addressed. The focus is on code signing, which Microsoft is hot on. Of course, the obvious question is 'Do I trust Firefox less than IE?'"

So, back at MSDN, Peter gets his with 200 comments:

# - firefox is teh rox! sux0r
# - Btw, didn't your mother teach you to always save to disk instead of running files from the online location! tut tut
# - Yeah - I know - "Wait until the next version. It'll be awesome. Honest." (c) 1972-2005 Microsoft, Inc.
# - Uh-oh, here comes slashdot...
Anonymous Coward
Flame on!
# - Congratulations, you just started a flamewar. >:(
# - You sir, Peter Torr, are a tool! You REALLY need to take the time you spent analyzing Firefox, and do the EXACT same thing with ALL MS software prior to XP SP2. IE only gained its current level of security as a result of SP2 which has taken HOW many years to reach this level? Think about it.
# - The solution is perfectly obvious. Entice a acquaintance to download and install everything before you; then get the binaries from he or she once you have determined everything to be safe and sound.
Everyone needs a guniea pig. A naive co-worker, gullible little brother, perhaps one of your elderly parents if you're the ungrateful type. But regardless, the result is the same: Better them than you!
In fact, I don't trust this webpage.. it's running asp.net. I'm outta here.
# - I never heard of Firefox until this blog.
I installed it and like it better than Internet Explorer now.
Thanks for the tip guys. I'll make sure to tell everyone about Firefox now.
# - I'm sorry, I'm not drinking your Koolaid, and less and less people are these days, thank $DEITY.
# - That was surprisingly long for derived bull$#!7.
# - Hehe, this blog is M$ BS all over, i have never had trouble or suspicion obtaining and getting firefox, and i DO know better :P
# - Die Microsoft! Die a horrible and painful death by a thousand throw-ups and homosapien bacteria that digests you from the inside out! Mwahahaha!
# - Bill Gates: Peter, what sort of sycophant are you !!
Peter: What sort of sycophant would you like me to be ?
# - Stop spreading such FUD.
# - HES A MICROSOFT EMPLOYEE, RETARDS.
# - I'm sure your boss is very impressed with your defense of IE. Your promotion and bonus check are on the way... er... yeah.
# - Boo! What's this censorship bullpoop! Tell me what a police state looks like, this is what a police state looks like! I'm burning my copy of XP in effigy right now! Die!!!

Hehe. Flame wars cool.