Editing 350: Network
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | [[Cueball]] shows off his virtual fishtank of virus-infected {{w|Virtual machine|virtual}} Windows machines to [[Megan]]. The machines nominally have {{w|Trojan_horse_(computing)|mail trojans}}, {{w|Warhol worm}}s, all sorts of {{w|polymorphic virus}}es, and explicitly {{w|Blaster (computer worm)|Blaster}} and {{w|w32.welchia}}. Cueball relates to the viruses as though they are fish, and hopes that they are all getting along together nicely. This is because part of {{w|w32.welchia|welchia's}} payload was to remove the {{w|Blaster (computer worm)|Blaster Worm}} | + | [[Cueball]] shows off his virtual fishtank of virus-infected {{w|Virtual machine|virtual}} Windows machines to [[Megan]]. The machines nominally have {{w|Trojan_horse_(computing)|mail trojans}}, {{w|Warhol worm}}s, all sorts of {{w|polymorphic virus}}es, and explicitly {{w|Blaster (computer worm)|Blaster}} and {{w|w32.welchia}}. Cueball relates to the viruses as though they are fish, and hopes that they are all getting along together nicely. This is because part of {{w|w32.welchia|welchia's}} malicious payload was to remove the {{w|Blaster (computer worm)|Blaster Worm}} |
+ | , effectively destroying it. | ||
− | + | It would be possible to set up a virtual fishtank as described. The main issue would be to make sure that you don't accidentally let anything escape from the fishtank. Consider it like a smallpox lab. Also, some viruses are quite malicious and will prevent a computer from running normally, or at all. An aquarium of dead computers would not be very interesting to watch. | |
− | + | The first part of the title text refers to the difficulty viruses have in the common doomsday threat of "disabling the internet" as a whole. SQL Slammer had some brief success. The second part of the title text indicates that Randall believes A) that Linux and Mac OS X are inherently less vulnerable to virus attacks than Windows, and B) that Windows will become less important and disappear, so the virus writers had better get their act together soon. | |
− | + | It is not certain how justified this opinion is. Six years after this comic was written, Windows still dominates the desktop, and Linux and OS X are not ''that'' much harder to attack with viruses. A side issue is the wild growth in 'smart devices' connected to the internet, powered by non-traditional operating systems such as iOS and Android. Desktop operating systems such as Windows, Linux and OS X are ''all'' becoming less relevant (although note that Android is based on the Linux kernel), so both the operating system war and the struggle against computer viruses are still "anyone's game". | |
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− | It is not certain how justified this opinion is. | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== |