From: Brian Bender (bbender_at_vocollect.com)
Date: Mon Dec 03 2001 - 11:46:58 EST
Gotta come out of my lurker's hole here for a minute and agree with Steve. Not flaming you here, Michael, and it's
certainly not personal (I'm actually chuckling as I type this), but your explanation sounds an awful lot to me like "I
know this car is prone to spontaneously burst into flames, but I'm just so attached to the upholstery and the stereo
and..." IT STILL BURSTS INTO FLAMES! GET RID OF IT!! QUICKLY!!!
MS LookOut! is the scourge of the internet right now! :-)
FWIW (not being one to criticize without offering at least a possible solution), if you're living on a Windows platform
for the forseeable future, check out Pegasus mail, http://www.pmail.com . It's actually a very good email client,
doesn't try to run untrusted code (scripts, active components, etc.), and, believe it or not, it's free. A nice side
benefit is it's actually very helpful in managing multiple accounts. I used it and _liked_ it until I switched
exclusively to Linux/BSD machines. For your archive of mail that LookOut Express is holding hostage (heh, typical MS
<g>): remove the mail server configurations and use it as a read-only library. But for goodness sakes, don't continue to
actively retrieve mail with it!
- Brian Bender
Happily using Slackware Linux on a TP600 (now with a 32GB disk -- thanks, Bill!)
email courtesy pine/Netscape/KMail, depending on my mood
Michael Edwards wrote:
> Subject: Re: WARNING!!! WORM!
> Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2001 17:51:08 +1100
> From: "Michael Edwards" <mje_at_foxall.com.au>
> To: "ThinkPad List" <THINKPAD_at_cs.utk.edu>
>
> Michael Edwards.
>
> ---------------------------------------
> [Steve Andre:]
>
> >As long as we're talking about non-thinkpad specific stuff,
> >let me ask
> >
> > WHY ARE ANY OF YOU PEOPLE RUNNING THIS ***DISEASED*** SOFTWARE!
> ---------------------------------------
>
> I can't speak for anyone else - but here's why I'm using it.
> I was introduced to e-mail and the Internet 3 years ago at a time when I
> didn't know the first thing about Windows or any Windows software. I had been
> using DOS for years, and still pine for it, and felt completely at home in it.
> Windows to me was a frighteningly complex new world where for the first time I
> felt quite out of control of my computer, felt I didn't understand how it
> worked, and didn't trust the software - and I still largely feel that way. But
> it came with my new laptop, and I didn't see what choice I had but to use the
> software, especially if I wanted to do things like e-mail and the Internet.
> I started using Outlook Express, not having the faintest idea whether it
> was regarded as a good program or not - but secretly feeling that *no* Windows
> programs (whether Microsoft or not) were truly good.
> I've got so much e-mail in Outlook Express files now that I want to keep,
> and don't have the faintest idea how to convert it to any other format - either
> just text files, or the format for another e-mail program. As far as I can
> tell, Outlook Express doesn't have any functions for converting e-mail - I
> suppose because they don't want to help users switch to another program.
> That's why I am using Outlook Express. I often hear people's astonishment
> that anyone should be so silly as to use it - but I am astonished that it
> doesn't occur to people that the kind of reasons I just gave might be the reason
> many people keep using it. It's obvious to me that, due to circumstances,
> especially relating to decisions you made earlier on based on inadequate
> knowledge, you can get locked into using, and continuing to use, certain
> software, even if you absolutely hate it now.
> And, unless I somehow find a reliable way of converting my e-mail, I expect
> I will continue using it for as long as I continue using Windows at all. It's
> not because I think it's such a wonderful program: I think a lot of Microsoft
> stuff is rubbish, and using it often makes me feel as if I'm trying to walk on
> eggs without breaking them - but, for the reasons given above, I'm more or less
> locked into it for the forseeable future. And it's no good people telling me
> how unwise it is to use it. I agree - but I can't do anything about it until I
> know what to do.
> I'm thinking of trying Linux, and perhaps abandoning Windows altogether, or
> except for one or two things I want to use which need Windows. But I have to
> get another hard disk first, before I can look into that. And I don't know what
> kind to get either, so there are problems there, too. And I will still need to
> find a way of converting my files. At the least, it's a long-term prospect -
> not something I can do within the coming week, or even month.
>
> ---------------------------------------
> >The number of bugs in Outlook/Outlook Express has gone beyond
> >*ALL* reasonability. This software should not be used by anyone.
> ---------------------------------------
>
> I agree - in theory. But I have no choice at the moment, given my present
> situation.
> By the way, do you also feel that no-one should be using Windows, either?
>
> ---------------------------------------
> >Over the course of the last several years this software has cost
> >hundreds of millions of dollars in lost time and productivity, yet
> >there are people who still use it. Unbelivable!
> ..
> >Wake up. Realize that MS has no interest in fixing things and
> >wants to continue to foist this dreck on everyone. Wake up and
> >realize that it is sheer folly to continue to use this software.
> ---------------------------------------
>
> Well, I hear comments like this all the time; and they are probably quite
> correct. If you have any ideas on how I could deal with the difficulties I
> described above, I'd be grateful if you could please share them with me. I
> would love nothing better than to escape the bondage of Microsoft, and once
> again enjoy the pleasure of controlling my computer, instead of it controlling
> me - but I need to know what to change to, and have to somehow learn all the
> various things I need to know to make the transition.
>
> Regards,
> Michael Edwards.
>
>
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