Many users of Microsoft's Front Page Web Authoring package ask if we have
the Front Page "extensions" installed on our Web server.
The short answer is "no".
There are a number of reasons why we have chosen not to install the
Front Page extensions.
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There are known security issues with running these extensions.
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This page discusses more recent security problems.
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The extensions written for the Apache Web Server (like ours) are not compatible
with the way our web server is configured. This has to do with the way
certain programs are run on the Web Server and how certain directories
and web addresses are structured.
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If the extensions were installed, they require the web server to be restarted
every time a Front Page user changes their web site. This puts an unnecessary
load on the web server.
Even though we do not run the extensions, that does not prevent you
from using Front Page for authoring your web pages. The extensions are
only one part of the total Front Page package. The web page editor is still
an excellent tool. You will only lose the interactive update and automatic
site management features. Also excluded are the "web bots". However, these
functions can be implemented using common CGI scripts already installed
at Hevanet or with Javascript or Java applets. Click
here for more information.
We will continue to review our position, but at this time we have no
plans to impliment the Front Page extensions.
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