Re: Virus-IBMs crashing all around me...

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

In article <5jr4fl$sl5@lynx.unm.edu>,
stephen e buggie <buggie@musca.unm.edu> wrote:
>We Apple II users enjoy virus-free computing.   I've gotten software from 
>all imaginable sources (flea markets, yard sales, the net, etc.) and have 
>never yet seen a virus.

   There were some viruses for the Apple II, but were quite rare.
Rebooting between programs did tend to make viruses a little harder to
write.

   Your computer lab admins should be slapped around a little, as
there are _plenty_ of PC virus scanners available, some for not much
at all.  Also, I'd do a crackdown on the students passing (usually
pirating) programs around, as that's one of the fastest ways to get a
virus on a PC. Buy the things on a CD-ROM, much less chance of getting
any virus... Bring a virus into the school's lab, get suspended from
the computer labs for a week, and sent home with a sheet of paper to
the parents listing off a whole bunch of virus scanning programs.

   Or, they could just run Unix, which also tends not to get viruses
because it's got a whole bunch of neat features designed to nuke any
program that misbehaves at the first sign of trouble. [WinNT is not
that secure according to those in the know... it's survived some
security by obscurity the first few years, but is becoming a much
tastier target for shady folks. And Macs security's pretty much the
same as it was in 1984, i.e. not that hot, and hasn't progressed that
much since then]

Nathan Mates


--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
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