21–30 of 56 posts
Typical NIH syndrome. They hired some smart people who are not cryptographic experts and now their cryptography is broken. Which is pretty much the story for anyone who has ever created a custom cryptographic system (and the story of SSL for the first few years).
Why so smug? I've seen this attitude in all types of IT heads (sys admins easily being the worst of the bunch) over the years. What is it about techies that they come over so smug when pointing out deficiencies in others? I still have the shame and anger provoking memory of two techies sniggering not-so-openly at me because I didn't know about name service switch in UNIX because guess what, I don't know everything. W…
Yeah, the alpha geek passive-aggression is a tiresome aspect of our industry. Usually that smug self-assuredness is worn down by harsh experience, but heaven help you if you meet a 40 year old alpha geek who has not yet learned that they too can be wrong. (I work with one, and he makes some shocking mistakes but cannot admit it, so when he launches at you with a holier-than-thou attitude, scorn and contempt are all that arise).
> What happened to good grace and manners
Exactly. When you're totally right and someone's totally wrong, if you want to effect actual change (assuming that doing so requires their coöperation), grace is precisely what's required. You can have all the technical correctness in the world behind you, but the moment you put someone's back up with your poor attitude, the chance of them rationally engaging with your argument drops dramatically.
I've had this argument before with some people on Reddit, and I received the retort "But who cares if I was rude, _they_ were wrong, I was telling them how to fix it!" ad perpetuam from one particular person who was astounded that no-one took his advice.
There is also a dialogue between author and Telegram happening in the comments as of right now.
" We grew tired of “experts” too lazy to read the full documentation. "
When asked about a diagram. With their attitude, it seems incredibly unlikely they'll ever have a secure product.
Why so smug? I've seen this attitude in all types of IT heads (sys admins easily being the worst of the bunch) over the years. What is it about techies that they come over so smug when pointing out deficiencies in others? I still have the shame and anger provoking memory of two techies sniggering not-so-openly at me because I didn't know about name service switch in UNIX because guess what, I don't know everything. W…
Elitism is found in all specialists, not just IT. I've seen it from doctors, mechanics, finance folks, dentists, police, even unskilled jobs like packaging dispatch staff.
Why so smug? I've seen this attitude in all types of IT heads (sys admins easily being the worst of the bunch) over the years. What is it about techies that they come over so smug when pointing out deficiencies in others? I still have the shame and anger provoking memory of two techies sniggering not-so-openly at me because I didn't know about name service switch in UNIX because guess what, I don't know everything. W…
Because Telegram is acting careless, and ignoring actual criticism, while touting claims that do not appear to be true? It's close to lying and scamming users. If Telegram was a messaging proposal, I'm sure the attitude would be a more straightforward one (with the same end result of "you're not ready to handle this yet"). Instead, it's billed as a definitely secure system. Seriously, read the previous thread: https:…
There is also a dialogue between author and Telegram happening in the comments as of right now.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In general, it's largely due to insecurity. I'm not saying that this is the case here, as I didn't pick up on it, but your comment definitely resonated with me, and this is something that bugs me more than I'd like on an ongoing basis. Over the last few years, I've been trying to become better at saying "I don't know", which can sometimes be really difficult in some tech circles.
I have never used Node.js There, I said it.
Why so smug? I've seen this attitude in all types of IT heads (sys admins easily being the worst of the bunch) over the years. What is it about techies that they come over so smug when pointing out deficiencies in others? I still have the shame and anger provoking memory of two techies sniggering not-so-openly at me because I didn't know about name service switch in UNIX because guess what, I don't know everything. W…
Why? Because with any other service, the people using it are going to be able to judge whether it is effective. If Word crashes when I open it, or is buggy, I'll know that and I can choose to use something else.
But with a product that is offering security, there is no way for an "ordinary" end user to know whether it really works or not. As is shown time and time again, providing good security is freakin hard. So you'd better be on your game if you're claiming to provide that.
And honestly, if someone is donating their time to check the security of other people's applications, and all they ask in return is to be a little smug when they point out problems, I think that's a fair trade-off.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The issue is that they claim their system is secure. Peoples lives can literally depend on encryption actually doing what it says on the tin; this software does not. It's the epitome of home grown encryption.
I hear you. Agreed. Surely every decent crypto system started off home-grown?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because Telegram is acting careless, and ignoring actual criticism, while touting claims that do not appear to be true? It's close to lying and scamming users. If Telegram was a messaging proposal, I'm sure the attitude would be a more straightforward one (with the same end result of "you're not ready to handle this yet"). Instead, it's billed as a definitely secure system. Seriously, read the previous thread: https:…
So which efforts are leading the pack at this stage that I could recommend to my entire family who practically daily urge me to join them on Viber? Years ago I would have said Skype. Now I just don't know. I'm saddened because I thought Telegram looked pretty sweet and a serious new contender. Practically calling them liars after that much hard work is unfair.
Things aren't fair. Hard work does not automatically grant your result any status.
You know what's also unfair? Pitching a product that's supposed to do something but doesn't.