Re: [Evolution] Re: FRQ: Pipe incoming mail through AntiVirus tools

[Not Zed <notzed ximian com>]

While I fully agree with Jeff on the lack of need for virus checking
software (a wondefully self-supporting industry built on humanities
favourite emotion - fear, and stupid software), the implementation
requirements in evolution, an input<>output filter, are *already* met.

You can trivially hook a virus scanner, just as you can a spam filter,
or a mail statistics engine, into evolution 1.1.x.  In the future you
will be able to hook a program which modifies the mail as well - this is
a planned feature, and is probably only a days work (much less if we do
some refactoring of the pgp code, or use guile for the filters).


On Sat, 2002-07-13 at 04:21, Jeffrey Stedfast wrote:
> On Fri, 2002-07-12 at 07:15, Marcus Franke wrote:
> > Am Fre, 2002-07-12 um 12.15 schrieb Anton J Aylward, CISSP:
> > > On Fri, 2002-07-12 at 00:34, Jeffrey Stedfast wrote:
> > > >
> >
> > > > Along the same lines, solving problems that are already solved is also a
> > > > waste of time (if you want a virus scanner for your email, this is best
> > > > done on the SERVER not the CLIENT).
> > >
> > > Damn Right!
> > > And in a corporate setting the likelihood of a mail gateway or central
> > > server is much greater.
> >
> > What about the home user then? Im pretty sure that some of my
> > friends use Linux on their desktops, but I doubt that more than
> > one or two beside me use fetchmail to get their mails..
>
> Having client-side IMAP virus-scan filters in Evolution won't help you
> here either.
>
> Please... just think 2 minutes. Just *2 minutes* about the virus problem
> and you will conclude that the BEST and ONLY place to have this type of
> filtering is server-side. As soon as it is client-side, it's too late.
> If the virus can affect the client software, then you've just been
> infected. Game over.
>
> > Windows users are used to mail clients that fetch the mails 
> > directly from the server.. You won't get them all to configure
> > fetchmail and procmail an avmailgate..
>
> You won't be able to get these people to virus scan either. Again,
> another + for server-side filtering.
>
> > And the possibility to hook some antivirus application into evolution
> > to scan for viruses in the mailbox will give place for companies to
> > sell such solutions to the end-users that switch from one desktop to
> > "our" desktop..
>
> Yes, because after all this solves all the problems of viruses. This
> does nothing but open a market for companies that would otherwise not
> exist. How does this solve the problem of viruses? It doesn't. It has a
> better chance of solving unemployment than it does anti-viruses (and it
> won't solve unemployment either).
>
> Jeff
>
> -- 
> Jeffrey Stedfast
> Evolution Hacker - Ximian, Inc.
> fejj ximian com  - www.ximian.com
>
>
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