[ Thanks to Ajay
Shah for this link. ]
“Microsoft had a problem. The `Windows’ operating system is weak
in deployment in large organisations. It has become essential for
the IT staff of a company to be able to remotely manage the
hundreds of computers spread over a large company, without needing
to physically be in front of each of them when administrative tasks
have to be performed. This is difficult using MS Windows.”
“The Cult of The Dead Cow…is a non-profit group with a sense
of humour. They released a remarkable product named `Back Orifice’
(http://www.bo2k.com) which accomplishes many of these functions
(the name of their product is a joke on the product from MS named
`back office’). Back Orifice is a useful tool, allowing many
administrative tasks to be done remotely. Back Orifice is available
at zero cost, including the complete source code (which you can
read, study, and improve). It works for both the traditional MS
Windows and for their `New Technology’ (NT) variant.
“The only problem in this happy picture is that Back Orifice is
a security disaster. Back Orifice accomplishes these useful tasks
by destroying the “computer security” that MS Windows is supposed
to have…”
“The competitor, Unix, was designed from the ground up in an
environment where (a) several people used the same machine, and (b)
all computers were connected up in a network…“