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BBC Links Linux To MyDoom

minus_273 writes "It seems the BBC has a story on their front page titled 'Linux cyber-battle turns nasty', very specifically linking Linux users to the MyDoom virus. Some lines to note: 'If anyone's anger has no measure, it is the wrath of internet zealots who believe that code should be free to all (open source). So, it seems likely that the perpetrators of the MyDoom virus and its variants are internet vandals with a specific grudge.'"

37 of 1,194 comments (clear)

  1. Silly BBC... by PatrickThomson · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't they know what happens when you incur the wrath of linux users?

    --
    I am one of many. My idea is not unique, nor do I expect my voice alone to sway you. I speak in a chorus of opinion.
    1. Re:Silly BBC... by jaavaaguru · · Score: 2, Funny

      The link in your .sig doesn't appear to work :)

      Anyone know if SCO intend coming back online anytime soon?

  2. Silly BBC, your smoking crack again... by azulza · · Score: 5, Funny

    If the virus were written by Linux coders it woulndn't have failed so badly when it triggered. The poorly written code has to have been written by someone with intimite knowledge of poor coding skills and Microsoft vulnerabilities... Humm... Do I smell a disgruntled MS employee?

  3. New to you by MachDelta · · Score: 5, Funny
    It represents a new degree of viciousness in internet warfare: a wickedly ingenious programme persuades thousands of computers to bombard a single website on a particular date.
    Say what? Hasn't /. been doing this for years already?
  4. Re:Why I'm not surprised... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    BBC just sexed up this war on SCO....

  5. Fact-gathering is passe by Grrr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here's what immediately follows that last quote...

    So, it seems likely that the perpetrators of the MyDoom virus and its variants are internet vandals with a specific grudge. SCO is the big, bad company that violates one of their sacred principles, as they would see it.

    There's no proof, of course, but it must be one of the theories at the top of any investigator's list.


    And this is from a organization which allegedly deals in "news" ?

    <grrr>

  6. Just in... by efextra · · Score: 5, Funny

    A new version of MyDoom has been found that is targetting bbc.co.uk

  7. Re:Complain by kinnell · · Score: 5, Funny
    Keep it civil, folks

    Screw that! Someone write a mydoom variant which targets the BBC. That'll teach them to bad mouth linux zealots.

    --
    If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
  8. Re:Can't even get the details right by jonatanw · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, i bet most people who reads that article doesn't know the difference between http and mail.. "Oh, yeah, mail, i can do that on a website!" -- typical hotmail user

  9. In an independent study by nil5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have linked MyDoom to SCO and Microsoft as well.

    I have also linked Saddam Hussein to Iraq and the BBC to Great Britain.

    I am very good at linking.

  10. And where is the source? by Advocadus+Diaboli · · Score: 3, Funny

    Since there is no source code published under the GPL yet I don't believe that Mydoom was created by Linux programmers. It looks more like a closed source work.

  11. Re:Why I'm not surprised... by mirko · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who gives a shit if a Linux user wrote it ?

    Well, if MyDoom is indeed "la creme de la creme" in terms of Windows programing, then it is obvious its author is an expert Windows developer, isn't it ?

    So, it is quite flattering for the Linux community to associate any of its member to a multiplatform coding genius.

    --
    Trolling using another account since 2005.
  12. Seems like Illiad has caught on to this as well... by NiteHaqr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Over at Userfriendly.org

    http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=2004020 5

  13. Re:Pretty hilarious... by mattjb0010 · · Score: 4, Funny

    There are no crack investigative journalists working for slashdot

    There are, however, "investigative" journalists on crack working for slashdot.

  14. MYDOOM found on MOON!!!!!!!!! by Polkyb · · Score: 5, Funny

    MYDOOM found on MOON

    A group of internet "Hackers" have discovered that the MyDoom Virus was, conceived, compiled and unleashed from a small crater, just five minutes walk from the Tyco Monolith!

    Well, it's just as believable...

    --
    I've never shoed a horse, but I once told a donkey to piss off!
  15. Zealots vs. "normal" people by weldzu · · Score: 2, Funny

    I would liken this article and the reactions to other similar news items:

    Muslims in middle east are not too fond of Israel. Muslim zealots blow up a coffee shop in Tel Aviv. Most of the world it seems to be done muslims who definitely seem to be zealots. Most people also agree that very few muslims actually do like to blow up coffee shops. Still, at least in the western world, terrorist bomb attacks are mostly associated with muslims, right?

    Similarly, many christians have anti-abortion views. Christian zealots gun down abortion clinic workers in the U.S. Again most christians don't like this and most people agree this is not something "normal" christians do. And still these kinds of attacks are kind of automatically associated with right-wing christians, right?

    So Linux users are anti MS and anti SCO. Someone creates a virus/worm that attacks MS and SCO. What do people who make the above associations think about this? Well it's obviously Linux zealot doing it, right?

    The thing I don't know for sure is, do those people realize the difference between a Linux zealot and a Linux user? Probably those who don't think on lines muslim => terrorist also don't think on lines Linux user => Internet terrorist.

    P.S. I'm not taking any sides to anything on this post. Events referred to here are fictional and any resemblance to real world events would be sad and hopefully a figment of your imagination.

  16. THOSE Bastards!! by Lispy · · Score: 2, Funny

    How dare they calling me angry?

  17. Re:Why I'm not surprised... by Komarosu · · Score: 5, Funny

    Call out Hutton, we've got some SCO execs to question and white wash!

    --

    "What do you mean you have no ice? Do you expect me to drink this coffee hot?" - Random Customer, Clerks
  18. Re:Pretty hilarious... by TheFrood · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sadly this will get modded to Troll.

    I can't count the number of times I've wished for a "(-1, Martyr)" moderation option.

    TheFrood

    --
    If you say "I'll probably get modded down for this..." then I will mod you down.
  19. Re:Pretty hilarious... by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1, Funny
    Responsibility...hahaha...Integrity! Bahahaha...snort, giggle

    This *is* the BBC we're talking about here. I mean, they're not exactly up to the standards of a true world-class organization like the New York Times.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  20. Re:Why I'm not surprised... by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Then you'd be wrong. Take a look at the code sometime, it is definately [sic] original.

    CmdrTaco! Check your logs for the parent poster's IP address, turn itover to Microsoft, and use the proceeds to hire a coder to incorporate a mandatory spell checker in the Slashdot posting process!

    You can use the left-over reward money to buy yourself a T1 line to your house, or get rid of Microsoft ads on Slashdot for a month.

  21. Article text by mav[LAG] · · Score: 5, Funny

    Linux cyber-battle turns nasty

    By Stephen Evans
    BBC North America Business Correspondent

    The MyDoom virus has triggered a new wave of attacks from lazy business journalists. It is also looks like a new front [sic] in a war waged by those who want to argue from facts and those who just make up anything that comes into their heads.

    It's usually no easier to fathom the motives of virus creators than it is of any other perpetrator of damage for damage's sake. But I'm going to be clever and subtly equate their motives with normal geeks in the first paragraph just to prepare the ground for you. There - done.

    In the case of the MyDoom computer worm, the motivation seems clearer. This is a good point and I'll ignore the alarm bells it rings, since I've just said how most virus writers' work is baffling to explain. Then I'll introduce SCO as the victim and assert that the perpetrator was someone devoted to the Linux operating system.

    The a quick paragraph on the history of the case which gets almost all major facts wrong followed by an entire section drawn on the very shaky premise that it must have been a geek Linux internet zealot who believes that code should be free to all. A few pointed jabs at Linux users later and I'll quickly admit that there is no proof of any of this, but that my (and of course your) conclusions should be clear.

    My conclusion is just as lazy. A nice section of speculation and poor research to finish off - with all the usual trigger phrases like "experts are pondering", "possibility", "might", and "internet blackmail."

    By now you can guess that I am an utter moron, with no more qualifications to be a business correspondent than a piece of cheese.

    --
    --- Hot Shot City is particularly good.
  22. Re:Pretty hilarious... by rjw57 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Windows is a cancer and the EU found it illegal. Cancer theatens life. Windows therefore threatens our way of life. Oh dear... why do people write "I've never seen a comment on /. claiming X" :)

    --
    Rich
  23. Re:Can't even get the details right by Nyh · · Score: 2, Funny

    And they don't understand the consequences...

    In the right border you will find at
    "RELATED INTERNET LINKS"
    a link to SCO: www.sco.com

    Well done BBC!

    Nyh

  24. That was a typo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    On their website it now has a retraction:

    "We mistakenly said Linux was responsible..."
    and
    "we actually should have said Linus is responsible..."

  25. If it were programmed by a linux user... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Wouldn't it have come packaged with source code?

  26. Well We All Know by pete-classic · · Score: 3, Funny

    That journalists are pedophiles.

    One bad turn deserves another.

    -Peter

  27. Re:USE THE FEEDBACK FORM, LUKE!! by Colonel+Cholling · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here's mine:

    "Dear Sir. I wish to object in the strongest possible terms to the article you have just published, the one about the Linux user who writes viruses. Many of my closest friends are Linux users, and only a few of them are virus writers.

    Sincerely,
    Brigadeer Sir Charles Arthur Strong (Mrs.)
    P.S. I have never kissed the editor of Radio Times."

    --

    I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
  28. Re:As a side-note by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    What if I AM a stereotypical geek?

    If you were a stereotypical geek, your IQ would be through the roof. You would have good spelling and grammar. You would use language correctly when you needed to and cleverly incorrect language when it suited you. In social settings, you would use it so efficiently and correctly it would be a fault.

    You would use large words when diminutive ones would do.

    Finally, to make you a true geek amongst average people, you would laugh at your own jokes, but nobody else would, since the language would be too complex or too subtle for an average person.

    Alas! The above is not you. You are a nerd. You attempt to write seriously, but you bomb your work with gems such as "virii," "... I do not belief it fair ...," and "Even if I AM more than a unrepentant ..."

    You think people laugh at your jokes, but they are really laughing at your use of language.

    You nerd.

  29. Re:My response to the BBC (short and to the point) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Since when has a lack of facts stopped corporate media from crafting a story out of nothing?

  30. Unpossible by Darth+RadaR · · Score: 4, Funny

    "It seems the BBC has a story on their front page titled 'Linux cyber-battle turns nasty', very specifically linking Linux users to the MyDoom virus. Some lines to note: 'If anyone's anger has no measure, it is the wrath of internet zealots who believe that code should be free to all (open source).

    If it really were a bunch of Linux/Open Source zealots, they'd have shared the MyDoom source code. :)

    --
    /*drunk.. fix later*/
  31. GREAT! by Ghengis · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now Aschcroft's going to be coming affter us all for being affiliated with the "terrorist" organization called "Linux".

    --

    "The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley..." - ROBERT BURNS

  32. GPL'ed by lcde · · Score: 2, Funny

    How can they think that MyDoom was written by a linux user, was there a GPL header on the top? :D

    --
    :%s/teh/the/g
  33. Zealots!!! by atomic-penguin · · Score: 1, Funny

    If I were an open-source zealot, who wrote Windows worms. I would have made the source available for the public and included a copy of the GPL along with the MyDoom worm. After all we can't have Windows virii floating around laden with software bugs, can we?

    Therefore it could not have been an open-source zealot who wrote the worm as the article on BBC implies.

    --
    /^([Ss]ame [Bb]at (time, |channel.)){2}$/
  34. Pfizer by epcraig · · Score: 2, Funny
    It seems reasonable to me to infer MyDoom's provenance is Pfizer rather than Linux.

    It is primarily advertising for Viagra.

    --
    Ed Craig "Who cares what you think?" George W. Bush, 4th of July 2001
  35. Re:mod parent up (informative) by FyRE666 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Hear hear! I responded to the outrageous allegations too. Hopefully some others here might feel inspired to add their voices after reading my own heartfelt anguish:
    M3 and mi fr3Nds r g0nna k1ll y00 if y00 donT kik sTeph3n eVan5 in ve nuTs! LiNux rOOLz!! If y00 donT p057 mi l3tteR, I'll DD055 yor 5iT3!!! y00 suxxx!!!

    There; succinct and to the point, I'm sure you'll all agree.

    (actually, kidding aside, I did respond to that article, and suggest others do the same).

  36. That's so easy by HolyShifter · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of course, all those Linux users are potential danger to the society.
    Like all muslim people are potential terrorists.
    Anybody with the capability to think by himself will avoid the trap. And well, that's exactly the problem...