[Scottish] Inaccurate BBC Linux Article

[Ian Drake]

Rage Vented -

Your recent article regarding MyDoom virus and it's links to the world of
Linux users is conjecture at most, malicious at worse. If your
“journalist” Mr Stephen Evans had more of an idea of the ethos behind the
Linux and Open Source community his article would, no doubt, have been
fairer and less biased. It remains a fact that this virus and so many
others like it are written by windows programmers exploiting weaknesses in
the Windows operating system. Simply because the target of this virus is
an “enemy” of the Open Source movement does not mean that the crime was
carried out by an open source programmer. If Microsoft spent more time
doing “trusted computing” than talking about it such weaknesses would not
exist.

As an organisation that has a remit for education and information
distribution one might be forgiven to think that the BBC would find a
friend in Linux and Open Source – the concepts and ideas behind it are
about freedom of information for the good of the community, not the
capture and hostage holding of said information for the exploitation of a
large company for the purposes of profit.

As a member of the open source community and a heavy user of Linux I feel
offended and embittered by your article and it’s suggestion that I am
implicated in such a crime by association. All I want is the freedom to
learn from my peers and to be able to teach them. I do not believe that
MyDoom, or indeed any virus, has a place and I do not condone it no matter
who the target be; and all of the Open Source “Zealots” that I have come
across in the last 20 years would agree with my views. Please don’t tar is
with a brush that has no proof that a Linux or OSS programmer created such
a vile piece of software.

I missed a tonne of points, but I feel much better after that rant.

Rgds,

Ian
> Kyle Gordon wrote:
>
>> Just thought you may all be interested in
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3457823.stm and the associated crap
>> that
>> the journo writes.
>
> It's interesting how many places this is popping up in.  Feel free to also
> vent your rage on /. - http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/05/0818229
>
> --
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> \`O_o'  / _ \/ -_) // / __/ _ \ pretty much everything begins to look like
> =(_ _)=/_//_/\__/\_,_/_/  \___/ a nail. Or a thumb." -- Rob Pegoraro
>     U - Ack! Phttpt! Thhbbt!     neuro at well dot com
> http://neuro.me.uk/
>
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