Free security s/w products from Comodo Group:

[John Fitzsimons]

John Fitzsimons wrote:

Hi Craig,

John, et al;

I was going through a few threads on the Comodo website wrt the launch
pad earlier today. In comparison to other forums, there's a solid and
-what I'd call- healthy debate about the value of the launch pad.

< snip >

Fine. I didn't say that there wasn't anyone on their forums who wasn't
critical of the launchpad. Though people like Sietse, with a huge chip
on their shoulder, chose to read things that way.

What I did say/imply was that their forum would NOT be representative
of the freeware community as a whole. A large proportion of the anti
Launch Pad people wouldn't bother with their forums.

If you haven't taken the time to read some of these threads, and you are
in the market for freeware security stuff, it's illustrative at the very
least.

I HATE web forums so I am not overly inclined to bother with theirs.
It is too easy for critical posters to be barred from posting to them,
or have their posts mysteriously "vanish" without warning.

I do however *sometimes* go to a web forum where I see that the people
involved welcome constructive criticism/suggestions/recommendations.
The fact that Comodo have done nothing about their Launch Pad, after
so many months of criticism, suggests to me that Comodo does NOT fall
into that category.

Regards, John.

 

[Craig]

Hi Craig,




< snip >

Fine. I didn't say that there wasn't anyone on their forums who
wasn't critical of the launchpad. Though people like Sietse, with a
huge chip on their shoulder, chose to read things that way.

What I did say/imply was that their forum would NOT be representative
of the freeware community as a whole. A large proportion of the anti
Launch Pad people wouldn't bother with their forums.

I do however *sometimes* go to a web forum where I see that the
people involved welcome constructive
criticism/suggestions/recommendations. The fact that Comodo have done
nothing about their Launch Pad, after so many months of criticism,
suggests to me that Comodo does NOT fall into that category.

Understood John;

Sounds reasonable to me. I guess what I'd say is:
- if you weren't so adverse to web forums this one is pretty valuable &
- Large (-ish) companies take a while to turn about (I'm giving 'em more
time)

best regards,
-Craig

 

[Comodo]

Hi Craig,




< snip >

Fine. I didn't say that there wasn't anyone on their forums who wasn't
critical of the launchpad. Though people like Sietse, with a huge chip
on their shoulder, chose to read things that way.

What I did say/imply was that their forum would NOT be representative
of the freeware community as a whole. A large proportion of the anti
Launch Pad people wouldn't bother with their forums.


I HATE web forums so I am not overly inclined to bother with theirs.
It is too easy for critical posters to be barred from posting to them,
or have their posts mysteriously "vanish" without warning.

I do however *sometimes* go to a web forum where I see that the people
involved welcome constructive criticism/suggestions/recommendations.
The fact that Comodo have done nothing about their Launch Pad, after
so many months of criticism, suggests to me that Comodo does NOT fall
into that category.

Regards, John.

John

I think you are being unfair when you say: "The fact that Comodo have
done nothing about their Launch Pad, after so many months of
criticism". (please tell us how many months exactly! You will see that
its not too long ago)

1)What do you think launchpad is apart from informing the users about
other Comodo products?
2)How can you say we have done nothing while we have started a healthy
debate to understand our user's needs and desires which is fairly mixed
at the moment?
3)Such drastic change like changing the main GUI is going to take many
months to implement and test as it changes the GUI architecture
completely.

Melih

 

[Comodo]

Hi Craig,




< snip >

Fine. I didn't say that there wasn't anyone on their forums who wasn't
critical of the launchpad. Though people like Sietse, with a huge chip
on their shoulder, chose to read things that way.

What I did say/imply was that their forum would NOT be representative
of the freeware community as a whole. A large proportion of the anti
Launch Pad people wouldn't bother with their forums.


I HATE web forums so I am not overly inclined to bother with theirs.
It is too easy for critical posters to be barred from posting to them,
or have their posts mysteriously "vanish" without warning.

I do however *sometimes* go to a web forum where I see that the people
involved welcome constructive criticism/suggestions/recommendations.
The fact that Comodo have done nothing about their Launch Pad, after
so many months of criticism, suggests to me that Comodo does NOT fall
into that category.

Regards, John.

John
in a posting Thurs, Apr 20 2006 4:15 am (
http://groups.google.com/group/alt....omodo+launchpad&rnum=2&hl=en#1f7c33937deff713
)

you said: "Is that another of your programs that stops working after a
year if
people don't go to your site to continue activation ? If so then there
won't be a lot of people here wanting to bother with your product(s). "

This tells me that you were making these statements without knowing
what the product was or what the product does! So now I am asking
myself the question: Does John really know what launchpad is and what
launchpad does or is he simply, like he did on Apr 20th just attacking
the product with no background information on the product.

Now I see that you don't even go to Church! So the priest can't even
ask you that question! Also the question that Comodo is asking its
users is more like: "How can we improve our Church" rather than "do you
believe in Pope". We are not asking a binary question with a yes or no
answer. we are asking for people's views and suggestions for
improvements to their environment. At least our users understand what
the product is what it does and they have their own views of how it
should be improved which we value immensely.

So, John, pls tell us what the launchpad is and what it does? Maybe you
can post a screenshot of it if you have every used it and explain to us
why its bad (more detail the better about why its bad rather than
making general statements).

thanks
Melih

 

[Craig]

Hi Craig,











< snip >


What I did say/imply was that their forum would NOT be representative
of the freeware community as a whole. A large proportion of the anti
Launch Pad people wouldn't bother with their forums.



I HATE web forums so I am not overly inclined to bother with theirs.
It is too easy for critical posters to be barred from posting to them,
or have their posts mysteriously "vanish" without warning.

....[prunining shears]
pls tell us what the launchpad is and what it does? Maybe you
can post a screenshot of it if you have every used it and explain to us
why its bad (more detail the better about why its bad rather than
making general statements).

thanks
Melih

Melih;

Often I've appreciated the durability of your asbestos suit when you've
come in here in the past. With all due respect, might I suggest pushing
away the keyboard and grabbing a pint or two w/a mate is in order...?

Of course, who am I to talk yet...

-Craig

 

[Comodo]

John Fitzsimons wrote:


John Fitzsimons wrote:

Hi Craig,


< snip >

"Comodo Personal Firewall 2.0 installs inside the Comodo Launch Pad, a
control center that pulls together various free and free-trial
products from Comodo."

Isn't that something that many here have complained about ? You just
ignored their complaints ?

Yes some people complained, we explained our reasoning and we started a
thread in our forums about what we should do
http://forums.comodo.com/index.php/board,8.0.html
the debate is still going on and whatever our users decide we will
implement!

< snip >

Thanks, but that seems like an easy way to get what *you* want. Most
of the people who are against your Launch Pad would NOT be posting
in your forum.

Regards, John.

John, et al;

I was going through a few threads on the Comodo website wrt the launch
pad earlier today. In comparison to other forums, there's a solid and
-what I'd call- healthy debate about the value of the launch pad.

< snip >


What I did say/imply was that their forum would NOT be representative
of the freeware community as a whole. A large proportion of the anti
Launch Pad people wouldn't bother with their forums.


If you haven't taken the time to read some of these threads, and you are
in the market for freeware security stuff, it's illustrative at the very
least.

I HATE web forums so I am not overly inclined to bother with theirs.
It is too easy for critical posters to be barred from posting to them,
or have their posts mysteriously "vanish" without warning.

...[prunining shears]
pls tell us what the launchpad is and what it does? Maybe you
can post a screenshot of it if you have every used it and explain to us
why its bad (more detail the better about why its bad rather than
making general statements).

thanks
Melih

Melih;

Often I've appreciated the durability of your asbestos suit when you've
come in here in the past. With all due respect, might I suggest pushing
away the keyboard and grabbing a pint or two w/a mate is in order...?

Of course, who am I to talk yet...

-Craig

Pint sounds like an excellent idea, I will make sure to have one later
on ;-)

Its frustrating for us to work very hard to build a product thats free
for people to use and have people who has never used the product to
make throw away comments without even knowing what product does! So I
would still be interested in seeing what John has to say about whats so
bad in Launchpad for him to feel so passionately about it, even without
him ever using it!

Melih

 

[John Fitzsimons]

John Fitzsimons wrote:

you said: "Is that another of your programs that stops working after a
year if
people don't go to your site to continue activation ? If so then there
won't be a lot of people here wanting to bother with your product(s). "

This tells me that you were making these statements without knowing
what the product was or what the product does!

Pity, it should have told you activating a program for only one year
at a time is a stupid idea.

So now I am asking
myself the question: Does John really know what launchpad is and what
launchpad does or is he simply, like he did on Apr 20th just attacking
the product with no background information on the product.

I knew people had to go back to your site after a year. I read it on
YOUR web site. If that information was wrong then it wasn't me that
put it there.

Now I see that you don't even go to Church! So the priest can't even
ask you that question! Also the question that Comodo is asking its
users is more like: "How can we improve our Church" rather than "do you
believe in Pope". We are not asking a binary question with a yes or no
answer. we are asking for people's views and suggestions for
improvements to their environment. At least our users understand what
the product is what it does and they have their own views of how it
should be improved which we value immensely.

I have told you previously that I do beta testing for a number of
programs. Your not making a win 98SE version of your product however
makes that difficult.

So, John, pls tell us what the launchpad is and what it does? Maybe you
can post a screenshot

Maybe you can ? Don't you have any screenshots of your own product ?
It seems to me to be a pretty sensible thing to have even for a
freeware product.

of it if you have every used it and explain to us
why its bad (more detail the better about why its bad rather than
making general statements).

People here have already commented on it. There is no point my
repeating previous threads. If you ever make a 98 version and mailing
list then I might consider discussing things further.

Regards, John.

 

[John Fitzsimons]

John Fitzsimons wrote:

< snip >

Hi Melih,

1)What do you think launchpad is apart from informing the users about
other Comodo products?

It is something that has annoyed a number of people here. They may,
or may not, be justified in that criticism. It is obviously pretty "in
your face" or it wouldn't be bothering them. I don't see anyone
complaining about how Zone Alarm, Kerio etc. "inform their users"
of their products.

2)How can you say we have done nothing while we have started a healthy
debate to understand our user's needs and desires which is fairly mixed
at the moment?

A healthy debate amongst people who are mostly pre-disposed to agree
with you is not my idea of a healthy debate.

3)Such drastic change like changing the main GUI is going to take many
months to implement and test as it changes the GUI architecture
completely.

Okay.

Regards, John.

 

[Comodo]

Pity, it should have told you activating a program for only one year
at a time is a stupid idea.


I knew people had to go back to your site after a year. I read it on
YOUR web site. If that information was wrong then it wasn't me that
put it there.


I have told you previously that I do beta testing for a number of
programs. Your not making a win 98SE version of your product however
makes that difficult.


Maybe you can ? Don't you have any screenshots of your own product ?
It seems to me to be a pretty sensible thing to have even for a
freeware product.


People here have already commented on it. There is no point my
repeating previous threads. If you ever make a 98 version and mailing
list then I might consider discussing things further.

Regards, John.

John

are you telling me that you have been objecting to this product and you
haven't even tried it yet and you don't even know what it does!?

Melih

 

[Comodo]

< snip >

Hi Melih,




It is something that has annoyed a number of people here. They may,
or may not, be justified in that criticism. It is obviously pretty "in
your face" or it wouldn't be bothering them. I don't see anyone
complaining about how Zone Alarm, Kerio etc. "inform their users"
of their products.


A healthy debate amongst people who are mostly pre-disposed to agree
with you is not my idea of a healthy debate.


Okay.

Regards, John.

John

In our discussion we are not suggesting we are giving our users a free
hand to tell us how they would like things. We are merely asking how
they would like to see the product operate and even encouraging them to
think scenerios where launchpad does not exist. I do not know where you
are getting your ideas from about the discussions we have. Are you
again making judgements on something you don't know or haven't read
about? I would strongly recommend before you start going on about
something, you first read it or use the product. It seems to me you
have neither used the product nor read the forums yet you are very
vocal about both! How come?

Melih

 

[Huss]

In message <[email protected]>, John Fitzsimons

Pity, it should have told you activating a program for only one year at
a time is a stupid idea.

(snip)

Also the case with Avast!, and yet I have not seen this cause problems.
Maybe I missed something.

 

[Huss]

So what firewall do you recommend if one has bad experiences with zone
alarm, Kerio, Outpost, Sygate, and TinyPersonalFirewall? I recently
finally got around to changing from Outpost because it kept crashing,
and had already made my way through the others and found them
unsatisfactory. I tried a number of freeware ones I found and Comodo
was the first one that I found that I liked, that worked with what I
needed it to work with, and that I felt I could use.

Since this is a matter of security, surely the only firewall worth
having is one that is subject to continuous development? I am not yet
able to trust a freeware firewall. Contrary to beliefs held by most
windows users, it's not enough to install and forget, as exploits are
continuously being generated:

http://www.google.com/search?q=firewall+exploit

Remarks about, e.g., faults & exploits on freeware Outpost are now
dated; sure it used to crash, and sure you could kill it off, but that
is a very old piece of software, V 1x, and V 4x comes out inside a
month.

None of the earlier firewalls can cope with the newest more serious
threats, and freeware firewalls seem mostly to be older products and
thus now undeveloped/not meeting new challenges.

I can't comment on the Comodo offering, and perhaps Melih will; how does
the Comodo firewall check outgoing applications to see if they have been
altered (e.g., code injection)? Does it use MD5 checking, or does it use
the more secure hash algorithm (SHA) 256 verification routine?

The buried question here is will it stop a root kit? If it can/will,
then I believe that it is the first freeware firewall to do so, and I'll
try it.

 

[Comodo]

Since this is a matter of security, surely the only firewall worth
having is one that is subject to continuous development? I am not yet
able to trust a freeware firewall. Contrary to beliefs held by most
windows users, it's not enough to install and forget, as exploits are
continuously being generated:

http://www.google.com/search?q=firewall+exploit

Remarks about, e.g., faults & exploits on freeware Outpost are now
dated; sure it used to crash, and sure you could kill it off, but that
is a very old piece of software, V 1x, and V 4x comes out inside a
month.

None of the earlier firewalls can cope with the newest more serious
threats, and freeware firewalls seem mostly to be older products and
thus now undeveloped/not meeting new challenges.

I can't comment on the Comodo offering, and perhaps Melih will; how does
the Comodo firewall check outgoing applications to see if they have been
altered (e.g., code injection)? Does it use MD5 checking, or does it use
the more secure hash algorithm (SHA) 256 verification routine?

The buried question here is will it stop a root kit? If it can/will,
then I believe that it is the first freeware firewall to do so, and I'll
try it.

Huss

Indeed security is the most important factor!

CPF passes more leaktests than any other firewal afaik. But pls go
ahead and try it yourself and test it using the leak tests. you will
see that its a very powerful firewall. This is not a trialware or
crippleware, its a full powerful firewall. Did you read the PcMag
article about it?

thanks
Melih

 

[Huss]

Huss

Indeed security is the most important factor!

CPF passes more leaktests than any other firewal afaik. But pls go
ahead and try it yourself and test it using the leak tests. you will
see that its a very powerful firewall. This is not a trialware or
crippleware, its a full powerful firewall. Did you read the PcMag
article about it?

I did, but what about MD5 vs SHA 256 verification? I've not been able to
confirm what it uses.

thanks
Melih

--
Huss

They come together like the Coroner's Inquest, to sit upon the murdered
reputations of the week.

William Congreve

 

[Comodo]

I did, but what about MD5 vs SHA 256 verification? I've not been able to
confirm what it uses.


--
Huss

They come together like the Coroner's Inquest, to sit upon the murdered
reputations of the week.

William Congreve

we use the SHA1 algorithm for verification.

thanks
Melih

 

[Huss]

we use the SHA1 algorithm for verification.

OK, well I took a risk. It seems a neat piece of software, from first
blush. Because I won't install Outpost on more than one machine - out of
some blind fairness to them - I was looking for a replacement for the
various 'things' infesting my library.

Will you ever consider implementing SHA 256?

Also, can I use your AV on a Bart PE drive? What about the firewall,
come to that?

YMLTK that BT-Yahoo's 'Anti-Spy' flags your control panel, or whatever
it's called, as spyware (can't be bothered to switch that machine on due
to summer heat). I'm not phased by it, but amused because of the debate
thus far. Perhaps a word in their shell like might help here.

thanks
Melih

--
Huss

They come together like the Coroner's Inquest, to sit upon the murdered
reputations of the week.

William Congreve

 

[Comodo]

OK, well I took a risk. It seems a neat piece of software, from first
blush. Because I won't install Outpost on more than one machine - out of
some blind fairness to them - I was looking for a replacement for the
various 'things' infesting my library.

Will you ever consider implementing SHA 256?

Also, can I use your AV on a Bart PE drive? What about the firewall,
come to that?

YMLTK that BT-Yahoo's 'Anti-Spy' flags your control panel, or whatever
it's called, as spyware (can't be bothered to switch that machine on due
to summer heat). I'm not phased by it, but amused because of the debate
thus far. Perhaps a word in their shell like might help here.


--
Huss

They come together like the Coroner's Inquest, to sit upon the murdered
reputations of the week.

William Congreve

Huss

Thanks for giving it a try and glad you like it.
We are monitoring all the public algorithms from SHA1 to RSA to make
sure they are not vulnerable and have plans to keep improving our
security by keep moving up to the next key size etc.

You are free to use our products wherever you wish. Its built for you
to use as many copies as you want for free!

Please help us by giving us your feedback about how we can improve it.
We have a wishlist in our forums and a nice community that is there to
help eachother.

cheers
Melih

 

[mokhtar.ayeb]

I came to this forum by looking in the web how to get rid of keys left
in the register by Comodo i-vault after uninstalling it.

I went through all the discussion that I found very interesting.

I used Comodo i-vault for few days and after uninstalling it I
discovered a lot of left Comodo keys in the register, among which the
following two:
HKCR\Comodoivault\DefaultIcon and
HKCR\Comodoivault\ShellOpen
that cannot be deleted.

1- Can Mr Melih (or anybody else) tell me how to delete these keys?
2- Can Mr Melih tell us why all these left keys after uninstalling the
Comodo software.

Mokhtar

 

[Craig]

I came to this forum by looking in the web how to get rid of keys left
in the register by Comodo i-vault after uninstalling it.

I went through all the discussion that I found very interesting.

I used Comodo i-vault for few days and after uninstalling it I
discovered a lot of left Comodo keys in the register, among which the
following two:
HKCR\Comodoivault\DefaultIcon and
HKCR\Comodoivault\ShellOpen
that cannot be deleted.

1- Can Mr Melih (or anybody else) tell me how to delete these keys?
2- Can Mr Melih tell us why all these left keys after uninstalling the
Comodo software.

Mokhtar

Mokhtar;

This is a newsgroup for discussing all types of freeware. We have
discussed Comodo's product line and Melih has participated. Having said
that, the best place for actual on-going support of Comodo's whole
product line is at their forum site:

forums.comodo.com

They require registration. By the way I am very interested in any
answers you might receive on this.

hth,
-Craig

 

[mokhtar.ayeb]

This is a newsgroup for discussing all types of freeware. We have
discussed Comodo's product line and Melih has participated. Having said
that, the best place for actual on-going support of Comodo's whole
product line is at their forum site:

Beside my concern about the left behind keys in the registry by Comodo
software, I thought that the reported facts could help in this
discussion about the possibilities that this product is a spyware.

I already visited Comodo forums and I did not found any question or
answer about that. Mr Melih participated to this forum and I hoped him
help me and clarify this issue to all others.

You asked me to address my query to Comodo, I'll do.

Sorry for disturbance