Lindows sells virus protection [LWN.net]

Lindows sells virus protection

Posted Feb 20, 2003 2:34 UTC (Thu) by rknop (guest, #66)
Parent article: Lindows sells virus protection

Lindows, perhaps, is defending its users against the fear of running systems without virus scanners installed.

I'd say that there is no question but that this is what they're doing.

I mean, heck, if it's the #1 requested feature, might as well sell it to 'em.

The fun thing is that it's very easy to write. "This virus scanner protects against all known extant Linux viruses! Source code available:

int main() { }

-Rob

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Lindows sells virus protection

Posted Feb 20, 2003 9:35 UTC (Thu) by beejaybee (guest, #1581) [Link]

"The fun thing is that it's very easy to write. "This virus scanner protects against all known extant Linux viruses! Source code available:

int main() { }
"

Sure: incomplete (there needs to be some sort of hooking into the file system to actually get files "scanned") but it's still snake oil. My thinking on this is, is it ethical to try to sell (for real money) a product they need about as much as the average fish needs a bicycle?

virus protection placebo

Posted Feb 23, 2003 22:30 UTC (Sun) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954) [Link]

>is it ethical to try to sell (for real money) a product they need
>about as much as the average fish needs a bicycle?

Good point. It's the placebo question. Placebos validly treat some medical complaints. But is it fraudulent for my doctor to tell me he's prescribing a drug when he isn't? For the pharmacy to take money for a substance I could get for free? And note that the pharmacy has to charge a lot. Sugar pills at 5 cents apiece wouldn't fool anyone.

Posted Feb 27, 2003 19:43 UTC (Thu) by ikm (subscriber, #493) [Link]

Placebos cure real illnesses. But in this case there's no illness at all. Just fear, induced by the lack of relevant information on the topic. That's not a placebo because fear is not an illness, nor it is likely to cause one.