Are All Microsoft Networks Bad For Your Computing Health?

R emember Dan Geer? He was part of a group of security experts who published a paper that warned that Microsoftis overwhelming software dominance is bad for our country, and the computer industry as whole.

Mr. Geer, who had been working for @stake Inc., was fired for his efforts, but his push to promote a more diverse computing infrastructure has, at least, gained the ears and thoughts of other computer security experts. According to Wired News, the subject is getting serious consideration from nearly every corner of the industry because of Mr. Geer, including Microsoft. From the Wired News article:

Geer insists thereis been a silver lining to his dismissal. Once it was discussed on Slashdot and other online forums, the debate about Microsoftis ubiquity gained in prominence.

"No matter where I look I seem to be stumbling over the phrase imonoculturei or some analog of it," Geer, 53, said in a recent interview in his Cambridge home.

In biology, species with little genetic variation -- or "monocultures" -- are the most vulnerable to catastrophic epidemics. Species that share a single fatal flaw could be wiped out by a virus that can exploit that flaw. Genetic diversity increases the chances that at least some of the species will survive every attack.

"When in doubt, I think of, ihow does nature work?i" said Geer, a talkative man with mutton chop sideburns and a doctorate in biostatistics from Harvard University.

The article goes on to reveal how the ideas Geer had been promoting have been taking root in the commercial and government sectors. You can find the full article at Wired News.