Article View: alt.comp.virus
Article #168Re: Win32/RAMNIT.A Anyone?
From: Wolf K
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:13
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:13
54 lines
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4520 bytes
On 05/08/2010 17:42, David H. Lipman wrote: > From: "Wolf K"<wekirch@sympatico.ca> > > | On 05/08/2010 17:23, David H. Lipman wrote: > | [...] >>> I'm sorry, just because the "average" person calls all malware a "virus" does not make >>> it >>> correct and if you insist on following this train of thought, please do NOT call >>> yourself >>> a "professional." > > > > > | Yeah, well,context rules. No matter how carefully people use terminology > | in their professional lives, words will escape into the wild, and then > | all bets are off. > > | It's context that determines a word's meaning. In every-day usage, > | "anti-virus" has come to mean what "anti-malware" means in a > | professional context. That's just the way it is. The first rule of > | communication is "Adapt to your audience." > > You can't call all malware a virus just because you use anti virus software. It doesn't > work that way and is a misconception and misnomer. > > If a majority of people have a misperception of a concept, their majority does not change > the concept. > > Quite true, but I'm not talking about the concept, I'm talking about words. Words refer. What they refer to is governed by context. One of the most difficult things for professionals to accept is that their professional context is, well, limited. Most people aren't professionals, but that doesn't stop them from borrowing professional terms. And of course when they borrow, they change the referents of the terms. You can scold all you like about misperceptions (and I do sympathise, believe me), but the fact is that the terms "anti-virus" and "virus" applied to computers have become generalised in common usage. Fact is that it happens in all professions. Professionals develop special and precise terminology, their work impinges on the rest of us, and we borrow their terms. And immediately fudge, fuzz, and often thoroughly misunderstand the concepts. Most of the time, it makes no practical difference. FWIW, my teeth grate when I hear people use "substitute" for "replace", or "reticent" for "hesitant", or - well, you get the idea. I hope. ;-) Can I stop people form misusing these words. 'Course not. wolf k.
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X-Google-Thread: fcd68,b851b95f3c6d1e77 X-Google-NewGroupId: yes X-Google-Thread: 111298,b851b95f3c6d1e77 X-Google-NewGroupId: yes X-Google-Thread: 115dc1,b851b95f3c6d1e77 X-Google-NewGroupId: yes X-Google-Thread: fa874,b851b95f3c6d1e77 X-Google-NewGroupId: yes X-Google-Attributes: gid67dc2eda8a,gide9d2b45abe,gidb181582988,gidaa617e85ca,domainid0,public,usenet X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!g2news1.google.com!news1.google.com!npeer01.iad.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!post01.iad!not-for-mail Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:13:15 -0400 From: Wolf K <wekirch@sympatico.ca> Reply-To: greywolf@ruddy.moss User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.7) Gecko/20100713 Thunderbird/3.1.1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.comp.virus,alt.comp.anti-virus,microsoft.public.security.virus,ba.internet Subject: Re: Win32/RAMNIT.A Anyone? References: <i2lolb$s5r$1@news.eternal-september.org> <i2o1or01uos@news2.newsguy.com> <56e3916c-4af4-41a6-9f65-ea55a89369fa@i28g2000yqa.googlegroups.com> <i2o47d0214h@news2.newsguy.com> <dYP3o.40115$3%3.20843@newsfe23.iad> <tE74o.32165$OU6.25112@newsfe20.iad> <i2rksi028go@news3.newsguy.com> <Crj4o.33326$Bh2.32962@newsfe04.iad> <i2sopq01lhf@news4.newsguy.com> <L0p4o.32466$OU6.4877@newsfe20.iad> <Xns9DC6C5344186EHHI2948AJD832@69.16.185.247> <i32s10$653$1@news.eternal-september.org> <Xns9DC7745224A99HHI2948AJD832@69.16.185.247> <ILj5o.44119$4B7.2363@newsfe16.iad> <toGdnU4lcMazdsjRnZ2dnUVZ8hidnZ2d@bt.com> <Xyo5o.41721$OU6.25986@newsfe20.iad> <i358na$sbq$1@news.eternal-september.org> <8ND5o.33941$o27.31443@newsfe08.iad> <Xns9DC89344DF505HHI2948AJD832@69.16.185.247> <G1j6o.53362$dx7.3611@newsfe21.iad> <i3cmop$ia3$1@news.eternal-september.org> <oaF6o.1247$1v3.814@newsfe20.iad> <i3f9se0cfd@news4.newsguy.com> <l6G6o.163309$iL.123754@unlimited.newshosting.com> <i3fb140d2v@news4.newsguy.com> In-Reply-To: <i3fb140d2v@news4.newsguy.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Organization: Newshosting.com - Highest quality at a great price! www.newshosting.com X-Complaints-To: abuse(at)newshosting.com Message-ID: <%HG6o.130014$h_1.14446@unlimited.newshosting.com> Lines: 54