🚀 go-pugleaf

  Suzana writes:

> With properly defined computer virus there shoudln't be doubts what is
> a good and what is a bad virus. Or should be ? Let's suppose that bad
> virus is intended to cause some unwanted function in system. Some
> programs (even antiviral) can do the same thing, (what is unwanted
> function anyway ?) but they cannot propagate. Good virus can
> propagate, but it is supposed to not invoke anything unwanted. But, by
> definition good virus can mutate, so can become bad virus.

But it doesn't *have to* become a bad virus.  And if it does become
one, then by most people's definitions it probably wasn't really a
good virus to begin with.

>                                                            Also, good
> virus on one system can be bad virus on another system (causing some
> unwanted function).

Correct in principle, but not too likely to occur in practice.

>                     Could all bad viruses be good viruses ? Yes,
> because without them many A-V producers would loose their source of
> money.

I think a lot of readers will find that a rather amusing example of
"goodness" of a virus.  Are you serious?

>        Can all good viruses be bad viruses ? Yes, because they are
> viruses (something very suspicious).

Only because there are (at least) two different meanings of the word
"virus".  If you play on that, you can prove almost anything.

>                                      Confusing ? Not to anyone who
> ever met chinese philosophy and principles of Yin and Yang. Shortly,
> good and bad are inseparable and dependent one of the another (you
> can't define good without defining bad and vice versa).

Even if you can't define "good" without defining "bad", that doesn't
imply that one *becomes* the other, or that there is no distinction
between them.  In my opinion, this is a very confused philosophy.

> So, what to do ? Let's throw (unnecessary) philosophy ....

Excellent idea ....

                                     Y. Radai
                                     Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Israel
                                     RADAI@HUJIVMS.BITNET
                                     RADAI@VMS.HUJI.AC.IL