does this mean that i cannot open an attachment by just clicking on it? shiv kumar
You can open an attachment (document/graphic/audio etc.) file by clicking it, however, what that means is that the file attachment is opened as a document for a specific application like xmms for mp3 files, or a graphic-file viewer for pictures. These associations are already pre-configured in most systems.
However, the key point being that the files don't need 'execute' permission to be viewed or heard ... since the application that the file is associated with is executable... And that's ok....
In the case of Windows, there is another major problem.. which is by default an option called 'auto-hide known extensions' is enabled ... which means if a file attachment actually ends with .EXE or .PIF extension but the filename is 'filename.jpg.exe' then the user only sees an attachment called 'something.jpg' misleading the user to feel that the attachment is not an executable but a jpg.
:-)
Rishi