4 ms·

Because who could have predicted allowing Javascript in a document format was a bad idea.

by tsally 17y ago

windsurfer 17y ago
Imagine what would happen if Firefox rendered PDFs natively.
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  I'm sure I read that Chrome was adding this feature. I heard about it just after the Google-China hacking thing which was apparently partly due to Adobe Reader.
  - tsally 17y ago
    It wasn't. iDefense retracted that part of their report.
tptacek 17y ago
That's one class of Reader flaws, but it's not the reason Reader is such a target.
- tsally 17y ago
  Right, the real reason Reader is a target is because of its ubiquity (especially in the enterprise). The reason why I mentioned Javascript is because I think it highlights Adobe's mindset perfectly. They refuse to design simple and narrowly focused software.
  - tptacek 17y ago
    Every time someone makes a comment like "X is too complex", I both agree and immediately think back to: http://www.jwz.org/doc/easter-eggs.html http://www.jwz.org/doc/easter-eggs.html Adobe is giving the market what it wants. It may be part of the current zeitgeist that software developers have a paternal responsibility to defer functionality in favor of security and reliability, but that notion --- if it exists in reality anywhere --- is extremely recent. Reader got complicated long before any major software vendor got religion about security.
    - tsally 17y ago
      I think you capture the issue perfectly. The things you value determine your opinion of software. From where I stand, I value good design (reliability and security are natural side effects). I find the aesthetics of well designed software beautiful. On the other hand, if I had deadlines and a decade of backward-compatibility to worry about I might have different values. I don't mean to be the highbrow/ivory tower security dude, I'm just speaking to what I value.

4 ms·

Because who could have predicted allowing Javascript in a document format was a bad idea.

by tsally 17y ago

Because who could have predicted allowing Javascript in a document format was a bad idea.

windsurfer 17y ago
Imagine what would happen if Firefox rendered PDFs natively.
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  I'm sure I read that Chrome was adding this feature. I heard about it just after the Google-China hacking thing which was apparently partly due to Adobe Reader.
  - tsally 17y ago
    It wasn't. iDefense retracted that part of their report.
tptacek 17y ago
That's one class of Reader flaws, but it's not the reason Reader is such a target.
- tsally 17y ago
  Right, the real reason Reader is a target is because of its ubiquity (especially in the enterprise). The reason why I mentioned Javascript is because I think it highlights Adobe's mindset perfectly. They refuse to design simple and narrowly focused software.
  - tptacek 17y ago
    Every time someone makes a comment like "X is too complex", I both agree and immediately think back to: http://www.jwz.org/doc/easter-eggs.html http://www.jwz.org/doc/easter-eggs.html Adobe is giving the market what it wants. It may be part of the current zeitgeist that software developers have a paternal responsibility to defer functionality in favor of security and reliability, but that notion --- if it exists in reality anywhere --- is extremely recent. Reader got complicated long before any major software vendor got religion about security.
    - tsally 17y ago
      I think you capture the issue perfectly. The things you value determine your opinion of software. From where I stand, I value good design (reliability and security are natural side effects). I find the aesthetics of well designed software beautiful. On the other hand, if I had deadlines and a decade of backward-compatibility to worry about I might have different values. I don't mean to be the highbrow/ivory tower security dude, I'm just speaking to what I value.