From owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Jan 28 16:03:18 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E12BE16A4CE for ; Fri, 28 Jan 2005 16:03:18 +0000 (GMT) Received: from ptb-relay03.plus.net (ptb-relay03.plus.net [212.159.14.214]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7C9DA43D41 for ; Fri, 28 Jan 2005 16:03:18 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from ian@codepad.net) Received: from [80.229.159.44] (helo=[192.168.0.4]) by ptb-relay03.plus.net with esmtp (Exim) id 1CuYsb-000EXk-Ca for freebsd-chat@freebsd.org; Fri, 28 Jan 2005 16:21:53 +0000 From: Xian To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 16:03:18 +0000 User-Agent: KMail/1.7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-Id: <200501281603.18198.ian@codepad.net> Subject: Is windows a virus X-BeenThere: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Non technical items related to the community List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 16:03:19 -0000 Is Windows a Virus? No, Windows is not a virus. Here's what viruses do: 1.They replicate quickly - okay, Windows does that. 2.Viruses use up valuable system resources, slowing down the system as they do so - okay, Windows does that. 3.Viruses will, from time to time, trash your hard disk - okay, Windows does that too. 4.Viruses are usually carried, unknown to the user, along with valuable programs and systems. - Sigh.. Windows does that, too. 5.Viruses will occasionally make the user suspect their system is too slow (see 2) and the user will buy new hardware. - Yup, Windows does that, too. Until now it seems Windows is a virus but there are fundamental differences: Viruses are well supported by their authors, are running on most systems, their program code is fast, compact and efficient and they tend to become more sophisticated as they mature. So Windows is not a virus. It's a bug. On top of that Windows cost money while viruses are free. -- /Xian "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." Albert Einstein