Introductions, Administrivia, and the Thread That Will Not Die...

["Ben Greenbaum" <ben_greenbaum () symantec com>]

Hi all,
 
I've been quietly moderating behind the scenes for about a month now,
after having taken over from Kelly Martin. I like the way the list has
matured and progressed over time since we first started it many years
ago. We currently stand at just under 16,000 subscribers! 
 
I guess it's finally time I should come out of hiding and introduce
myself...
 
My name is Ben Greenbaum, and I joined Security Focus in the summer of
1999. Since then, we've gone through a lot of changes, and my current
role is as a research manager for some of Symantec's Security Response
teams. We do everything from monitoring incoming IDS feeds from our
partners and DeepSight Analyzer users to configuring, deploying and
monitoring honeypots, to researching new vulnerabilities and reversing
malcode. It's an interesting way to spend the days :) I look forward to
continuing to read your posts and keeping the list on topic, as well.
 
On that note: Everyone already knows which thread I'm referring to, I'm
sure. I have been tempted a few times to shut it down, especially as
posts verged away from "good information" and started skirting the
territory of "personal attacks". However, there was usually at least one
redeeming point to be shared, and I'd rather err on the side of allowing
rather than rejecting a contribution. However, the main participants
appear to be at an impasse, and the value of the thread has gone down
the further we get into academic theorizing and definition of terms. I
can just see it devolving shortly into an argument over the definition
of "improvement" or similar. So, to that end: This is a call to the main
participants in the thread to formulate and submit your "closing
arguments" as it were, and then we will be done with it for now at
least, until someone comes back with substantial technical additions to
the discussion. I'd be interested in seeing the results of any related
experiments, for example. Thank you to everyone who has participated
thus far.
 
And thanks to you all, for your continued reading! I hope we can
continue to make this a useful resource for everyone.
 
Cheers,
Ben Greenbaum