Xref: utzoo comp.misc:2167 comp.sys.ibm.pc:13732
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!oliveb!pyramid!voder!kontron!optilink!cramer
From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Commercial liability for distributing a virus
Message-ID: <1985@optilink.UUCP>
Date: 25 Mar 88 17:16:53 GMT
References: <500@xios.XIOS.UUCP> <4811@ecsvax.UUCP>
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA
Lines: 31

> In article <500@xios.XIOS.UUCP>, dont@xios.XIOS.UUCP (Don Taylor) writes:> 
> > 
> > My confidence in the big manufacturers
> > quality control on this sort of thing is pretty low since the day I did
> > a 'strings' on MS Word (version 2 I think) and I saw a chilling message 
> > that said something to the effect: 'the fruits of evil are bitter, wiping
> > your hard disk now...'.  Bill Gates was questioned about this at the time
> > and claimed that MS did not authorize the insertion of this message, that
> > it was done by a co-op student whose intentions were good, but misguided.
> 
> This isn't the only instance of little messages being sprinkled in
> Microsoft products.  I was shown a recent one at a demo of MS Bookshelf
> last week.  There is a part of the package that contains a list of
> wordprocessors and versions that can be selected to use along with this
> reference tool.  After a long list of various versions of MS Word, the
> non-Microsoft wordprocessors are listed and in parentheses next to
> WordPerfect is a exclamation of dismay (OH NO, I think it was).  I guess
> the developers thought this was a clever way to take a shot at their
> competition, but it struck me as less than professional, and I can't
> help wondering what other little gems are secreted in their software and
> under what circumstances they'll pop up on the user. 
> -- 
> Carolyn Kotlas    (kotlas@ecsvax.UUCP  or  kotlas@ecsvax.BITNET)

I guess I must just be unprofessional and immature.  Unlike the message,
"wiping your hard disk now...", this comment about WordPerfect isn't
going to cause anyone to wonder what the software is doing -- and I've
read FAR too many humorless manuals.  See the original Epson MX-80
manual written by Dr. David Lien (sp?) for an example of how effective
humor is in making a technical reference readable.

Clayton E. Cramer