atw: Re: O.T. "Reliance on Microsoft a threat to security: experts"

I'd say Amiga viruses have been going since the Swiss Cracking Association 
(SCA) virus of circa 1987, but at least they were rarely very destructive 
and almost always colorful and creative.  Plus the early virus checkers 
were very spectacular and entertaining, playing ominous organ tones and 
cycling the 4096 colours palette as they cleansed the system.  Many of the 
early Amiga viruses (virae?) were simply there as a demonstration of the 
programmer's skill with a machine on which absolutely everything was 
programmable, even the power LED.

But that was when computing was meant to be fun.  One of the copy programs 
(Quick Nibble) used to play a sound bite ("Yo ho, Yo ho, a Pirate's life 
for me!") from Peter Pan.  Also, if I recall correctly, the Marauder copier 
used the pan pipes sound bite from Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" as it 
cracked the floppy copy protection.

Perhaps we simply need to return to a time of less destructive and more 
entertaining viruses, that melt screens, cycle colours and send cheerios.

Hey, I just forwarded the article link saying that it is important to 
maintain some diversity.

Any technology monoculture (I wouldn't have wanted a C= world either - 
Yikes!) has its drawbacks, including its widespread ease of attack as the 
locusts who code todays viruses swoop in to make a meal of it.

Diversity also encourages employment, whereas the Microsoft monoculture 
keeps everything in-house and shuts out the open standards and creativity 
that we must encourage if we are to have a healthy technological future.

That aside, it's an article, not a white paper, which I didn't write.

This messenger now ducking for the next shot.

Cheers,

Michael Granat
Write Ideas

At 20:43 25/9/2003 +1000, you wrote:
>The only real problem with that argument is that _any_ dominant OS is
>subject to the same criticism. If we were all running Amigas we'd all have
>Amiga virii. Ditto for Mac / Unix etc.
>
><Tediously>
>
>Before anyone suggests so (doubtfully u Mike), yes, I've seen worms running
>through Unix systems YEARS before I encountered a virus on ANY other
>machine. Lessee, '87 from personal experience definitely. Read about stuff
>done in the 70's.
>
><Shakes his head at popular belief at the start of the 21st century>
>
>Steve Hudson

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