Ever notice how Microsoft plasters the Windows name on everything it can reach? Splash screens, stickers on computers, and advertising everywhere. There is no escaping it. Except when it's yet another malware outbreak-- then all the news organizations go inexplicably deaf, dumb, and blind, as this latest story demonstrates
The thing is, news outlets practically never mention that these scary big virus outbreaks are *Windows" viruses, as if viruses were some abstract entity.
The tech press goes berserk at every utterance from Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, and every word emitted by the Redmond PR machine is dutifully repeated and canonized. Except in stories like these. The article is brief and doesn't give much information, and it links to two other lengthier news stories that are just as befuddled.
Only they're not befuddled-- it looks to me like they are deliberately not saying that the affected systems are Windows systems. Check out this clever phrasing:
"Our military is dependent upon commodity desktops whose software shares an enormous amount of DNA with systems that sit on every workplace in the planet."
Now who do you suppose they are referring to? Apple? Ubuntu? AmigaOS? Solaris? FreeBSD?
Quite.
Indeed Glyn.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at the Wildlist http://www.wildlist.org/ and especially the latest list for October 2008.
There's a prize for anyone who spots any Viruses that are *not* targeting Windows...
(Hint, out of 431 active viruses there are NONE, for non-windows platforms)
Thanks for the link. But it's striking that even here, the word "Windows" never occurs, not even once.
ReplyDelete