Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pmafire!uudell!milano!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!csus.edu!ucdavis!csusac!csuchico.edu!lorner From: lorner@ecst.csuchico.edu (Lance Orner) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: A modest proposal... Message-ID: <1990Nov21.035538.5364@ecst.csuchico.edu> Date: 21 Nov 90 03:55:38 GMT References: <10490@ur-cc.UUCP> <1990Nov19.033747.29163@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <27013.27483646@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> Sender: news@ecst.csuchico.edu (USENET) Organization: California State University, Chico Lines: 26 In article <27013.27483646@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> mlab2@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: >Here's a dilemna... > >Consider an anti-virus virus. [reasons for this "virus" deleted] Part of the problems we have with the viruses we have now is not the fact that they actually do something malicious, but rather, they are just there taking up memory and disk space. There have been a number of reported problems with all sorts of systems with viruses, not because the virus is doing anything, but because the virus is there where the system does not expect it to be. This thing grows and moves to other systems where it causes the same problems. Now, I see where John is coming from, and it can be an interesting idea. But putting that and all ethical questions aside, this idea is still a virus, even if it is good natured and well-intentioned. And it seems like it would cause the same unintentional problems as a regular virus would, simply because it is there. Therefore, you're not fixing anything, but just adding another one of the beasts to the computer world. -- Lance M Orner | To get a hold of me -- Computer Engineering | --from Internet: lorner@ecst.csuchico.edu California State | --from America Online: Caradoc University, Chico | --from Eighth Ave.: "Hey! Lance!"