A windows user's curious way of thinking

[kyonides]

Today I read a post of a windows user stating that the Virut virus (yeah what an original name) is spreading across windows computers and infecting jpeg, gif, bmp, txt, mp3 and doc files. He stated that according to some article (I don't know which one, he never mentioned it anywhere on his post) there was no cure, no patch to fix it, no antivirus could detect it and the only solution available was to format the partition (or the whole harddisk since many windows users only count on a single partition for the entire hdd to hold their personal data) and reinstall Windows (as usual).

At the end of his scary post he said they ("the forumers") already know Linux is perfect (something I never said, I just stated it was more secure by default IMVHO) and I, kyonides, shouldn't brainwash them by promoting Linux (even if I only do it every so often for free because I believe it's what's keeping my PC safe and stable and reliable for the last 2 years). Man, I really thought it was an insult and a very narrow minded point of view. How can he dare to comment I'm brainwashing them just because I tell them why Linux is a good choice to keep your PC secure without the need to install a single AV? Isn't he worried a virus could make their PC's crash? Isn't he telling everybody that their personal data is doomed if their PC's got infected? Besides several users here and on several other Linux oriented fora already stated that any Windows based file isn't really capable of making a Linux OS get infected and useless, or am I wrong here? Didn't some of you mention that logging into a Linux OS was a good idea if you wanted to get rid of a virus on a Windows OS? IDK what that forumer was thinking at the time he accused me of manipulating them by promoting Linux in a passive and peaceful and respectful way.

BTW, I recommended them they could format their hdd's so they could have at least a ext(3 or 4) (and a swap) partition and install a Linux OS as a backup OS or even as the primary one and do any transactions while on Linux.

[Snowhog]

Re: A windows user's curious way of thinking

...there was no cure, no patch to fix it, no antivirus could detect it...

Which is patently rediculous. Who ever the poster was, they certainly don't know squat about what they are talking about. :P

[woodsmoke]

Re: A windows user's curious way of thinking

I used to volunteer at an online community where we cleaned "stuff" off people's machines by online means, it was called Castle Cops.

One thing that everybody there noticed when somebody appeared in a GREAT PANIC, crying, screaming tearing their hair out, for somebeody to pleeeeeze help them that when all was well, and that the ENORMITY of the problem had finally sunk into their minds....they suddenly "got religion" about security. lol.

I agree that what the guy said was hurtful to you on many levels, but it was possibly because, for the first time, the enormity of the problem has occured to him and people lash out in odd ways..

You could take it as a compliment that he insulted you because he was "jealous" of you and knows that he can't take advantage of what you do without expending effort instead of buying a program.... which he thinks doesn't exist yet.

But, I think, that actually, he is wrong on at least one level. I know that Yahoo will scan an image that has been sent to me before it will download it.

Now, whether it is scanning for what he was wound up about, I don't know.

But, that is one reason why I keep almost all mail off my machine, not all, like I keep stuff from family and friends on the machine but that is about all..

So...again, you could take the rant as a back handed compliment!

woodsmoke
woodsmoke

[Detonate]

Re: A windows user's curious way of thinking

The Virut virus is an actual virus and not a hoax, as is the case with many such posts. But it has been around since early this year and is now detected and removed by all of the major anti-virus programs. Virus:Win32/Virut.BM is a polymorphic file infector that targets .EXE and .SCR files. This virus also opens a backdoor by connecting to an IRC server, allowing a remote attacker to download and execute arbitrary files on the infected computer.

So the poster has no idea what he is talking about. I am on the mailing list from several friends who think it is necessary to email all of the contacts in their address books every time they hear about a new virus attack. Of course most of these are old news, and many are simply hoaxes. I used to reply to them about checking these out before mailing, but my warnings seem to fall on deaf ears. So now I just click delete.

My practice on forums is to never reply to a rant like that. It just opens the door to a flame war.