Pickle Patch

We’re pretty much used to vendors claiming to have invented everything, with their patents in their back pockets to prove it, and we’re also used to being told that only the vendors’ programmers are smart enough to fix any problems with their code.

This is despite the plethora of coders producing malware which exploits bugs the vendors’ own people didn’t know existed. Now that ZERT has decided to produce patches for the busted code that vendors haven’t got around to fixing, there’s no shortage of spruikspeople telling anyone who’ll listen that this is a bad idea.

Yeah, OK, if this was a car maker trying to convince us to use genuine parts, we’d be thinking they’re after a bit more revenue from their loyal customers. But this is a free patch, which will eventually get replaced by the vendors’ free patch. Gosh, must look after that revenue opportunity. Say what?

This really comes down to vendors not wanting to risk anything else going wrong, resulting in more calls to the help desk. This apparently outweighs the reduction in calls if the third-party patch works.

Heck, they’re both free, but one’s here now.