Re: [MacPerl] Timeout script (Warning: lots of non-Perl info)

["Ramesh R." <sram0mp@radon.comm.mot.com>]

At 11:49 AM -0600 29/4/1998, Mark & Kris Manning wrote:
<snip!>

  Unlike Java, JavaScript can not talk to
>your
>hard drive, muck around with anything on your system, etc....  Java
>though,
>can do such things.

<snip!>

I'm afraid, presently, Java running as an applet (i.e. downloaded from the
Web and running in your browser) cannot "muck around with anything on your
system" or "talk to your hard drive". According to Sun's terminology, the
applet is "untrusted". That's part of its "sandbox" model of security that
people either love or hate, i.e. the applet can only access the resources
from the server where it came from and not from the local machine. Java
running as an application can do anything with your system, since the
assumption is it's an application that is "trusted", like any other
application on your hard disk, like MacPerl (that's the obligatory MacPerl
info, :-).

Things may change in the future, as some people, having seen ActiveX
(that's MS answer to Java, which can do anything to your system, runs ONLY
on Win platforms, brought about lots of publicity when other people showed
how it can be used to crash your system, and transfer your money from your
account to theirs, and, presently, seems to be even "abandoned" by MS for
another acronym "DCOM"), believe that the sandbox model is too rigid. Sun
may be introducing ways where in certain circumstances, an applet may be
allowed to access the local resources, including the local hard disk.

Suggest, if there is any more discussion along this line, that it be taken
off the list and be done privately. I don't think any more of this spoofed
obligatory MacPerl info would be tolerated, :-)!



Cheers,
Ramesh



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