CodingExperiments.Com: The Danger of Web Apps; How a Bug in Gmail Locked up My Account
jokeyxero
· 1 year ago
I would think this same kind of thing could happen with desktop mail, except instead of being locked out (which is easily reconciled usually) a bug could stop it from functioning at all until a patch is released. I agree we need to be careful on cloud dependence but I'm not convinced this is a good argument for caution.
Rishabh Mishra (possible248)
· 1 year ago
Ooh. Didn't think about that.
Regarding the same thing happening with desktop mail, but are you talking about a bug affecting the mail server or client?
jokeyxero
· 1 year ago
If it is the server then it is out of your hands, just like with web mail, if the client you might be able to avoid it.
Rishabh Mishra (possible248)
· 1 year ago
Right, but with webmail, a bug in code that wouldn't otherwise affect the server (such as viewing a Word document with a built-in viewer) can affect the server.
So, the same sort of lack of reliability I talked about in the blog post could happen with desktop mail, but there is a greater chance of it happening with webmail.
There are also greater consequences when webmail goes down, compared to desktop mail. With desktop mail, you typically have old messages downloaded to your computer, in case you need them for reference. With pure webmail (assuming it isn't backed up locally), even the existing mail vanishes.
All Comments
Regarding the same thing happening with desktop mail, but are you talking about a bug affecting the mail server or client?
So, the same sort of lack of reliability I talked about in the blog post could happen with desktop mail, but there is a greater chance of it happening with webmail.
There are also greater consequences when webmail goes down, compared to desktop mail. With desktop mail, you typically have old messages downloaded to your computer, in case you need them for reference. With pure webmail (assuming it isn't backed up locally), even the existing mail vanishes.