From: werner@cs.utexas.edu (Werner Uhrig)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Another answer  Re: Virus vs disk compression
Date: 15 Oct 1992 03:34:05 -0500
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: dimebox.cs.utexas.edu


> leonardr@netcom.com (Leonard Rosenthol) writes:

||>...an article suggesting that "While any disk compacting utility, 
||>such as Disk Doubler, or Auto-Doubler, is active, your Virus protection 
||>software is rendered virtually useless." I will assume by this statement 
||>that they mean to include other utilities such as More Disk Space, 
||>SpaceSaver, and others as well.


||	...on one hand, when a file is "compressed" (stuffed), it isn't
||	easy for anti-virals to protect the (now data, and not executable)
||	file (resource forks) from "getting modified" - if for no other
||	reason than that the anti-virals don't usually try to protect
||	data-files....
||
> This is also true, however StuffIt provides users the ability to
> have files checked for viruses as they are unstuffed/extracted from the
> archive - therefore significatly reducing the chance of viral infection from
> compressed data.

	I, personally, was not thinking of StuffIt (which I consider a "file
	compactor", not a "disk compactor" - and I have not tried the new
	added capability of SpaceSaver yet, so I have absolutely NO opinion
	on that - other than my general distrust of anything not done in
	hardware or at the driver level ...)


||The best compression technique is compression at the disk driver level.
||Golden Triangle has one such, and I know of at least one more company
||with one just about ready.  This technique avoids many of the nasty
||patching strategies currently in use by many of the compression utilities.
||
> This is is a different topic than the above, but let me say that you may
> not be as impressed after you have tried them.  They have different problems 
> than the current crop of transparent compressors, and are VERY difficult to 
> "back out of".  It will be interesting to see user reaction/experience with
> these when they do ship.

	I don't think that they should have the same problem as disk/file
	protection implemented at the driver level (an accident waiting to
	happen).  In general, the issue of "backing out" should not
	come up, should it?


||Most of them I've seen so far are hacks.  They use the system in
||less-than-compatible ways.  Some of them use unsupported internal
||system mechanisms.  These vendors should be ashamed of themselves.
||
> This is a pretty inflammatory statement and I would like to see this
> one backed up across the board.  Yes, SOME companies do use unsupported
> things, but MOST do not..Hell, StuffIt SpaceSaver is the ONLY one of the
> transparent compression products that runs under System 7.1 WITHOUT CHANGE!!

	"most of them" is not "across the board", Leo, and the names that
	were mentioned in the lead in article wasn't pointing to one of Aladdin's
	products (right?); but in any case, I do understand that you speak
	up protectively of your products, as well as a well-informed party
	regarding such matters.  And I am glad you did!


||The cheap attempts by these vendors to characterize one category of
||software as of no consequence deserve to be challenged.  If they are
||unable to achieve compatibility, they must take responsibility for
||their inability rather than pointing the finger of blame at other vendors.
|| 
>Now that I agree with - for ANY type of software!!  If your product has
>compatibility problems, it is your responsiblity to find out why - and
>if it is the fault of another, let them know and help them fix it!  I've spent
>more time crawling around in other people's code to find incompatibilities
>on some days that I spend on my own...Ask me about the guts of Print Monitor
>sometime ;)

	heh!  yes, I also couldn't help but think of certain Apple software
	when reading this ...  :-))
-- 
  werner@cs.utexas.edu |  ..!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!werner | werner@UTXVM.bitnet

              "Free Advice and Opinions -- Refunds Available"