I talked with MJ a bit in Koha IRC yesterday to get a better understanding of his concerns. While there are theoretical exploits of the data found in libwebcats, I don't feel as though the site is putting anyone at particular risk. As Owen points out, most of this info can be found on many libraries websites, so it's already out there. And the legitimate uses of this information far exceed the potential exploits. ANY information can be used for evil. In my opinion, the responsibility for the ethical usage of knowledge rests not with the content provider, but with the individual his/herself. Marshall, thank you for your work on libwebcats. It's a valuable tool. There are still some improvements to be made, from my perspective, but it's definitely better that it exists than not. Cheers, -Ian On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 8:28 AM, Owen Leonard <oleonard@myacpl.org> wrote:
2011/5/25 Robin Sheat <robin@catalyst.net.nz>:
Breeding, Marshall schreef op wo 25-05-2011 om 15:13 [-0500]:
It feels odd to be criticized for efforts that I believe provide benefits to the broader library community. Including a disclaimer does not imply that the data are being used unethically.
This particular risk is always present in any situation where you have something that says "person/organisation A is using software X." Personally, I think the benefit far outweighs the risk.
The Nelsonville Public Library was the first public library in the US to use Koha. I considered it a privilege to be able to tell others about our experience and encourage them to make the same switch. Having that information available to all was a benefit to us and to Koha.
Anyone can usually find out what automation system a library is using by going to their web site. I don't see how eliminating lib-web-cats listings is going to make anyone safer.
-- Owen
-- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org _______________________________________________ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha-community.org http://lists.koha-community.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel website : http://www.koha-community.org/ git : http://git.koha-community.org/ bugs : http://bugs.koha-community.org/
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