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Microsoft Cuts Anti-Virus Support For Unix / Linux

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the how-totally-amazing dept.

jasonmicron writes "As previously reported on Slashdot, Microsoft has completed the aquisition of Sybari Software this morning. Before the ink was even dry, Microsoft cut all new antivirus support for all Unix and Linux definitions. Current customers will continue to receive support but new customers will not have the option to purchase the software under Unix / Linux. From TFA: Post acquisition, Syabri becomes a Microsoft subsidiary focusing on marketing anti-virus and anti-spam protection for Microsoft messaging and collaboration servers. It will continue to market Sybari's Lotus Domino products but will not sell Antigen versions for Unix and Linux."

15 of 521 comments (clear)

  1. This is good! by mboos · · Score: 4, Funny

    Microsoft is affirming that Linux and Unix are more secure than Windows and don't require anti-virus software!

    --
    --Mike Boos
  2. Silly readers@! by spitefowl · · Score: 3, Funny

    You must be mistaken, Linux doesn't have viruses!

  3. You gotta love this by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Funny

    Microsoft selling antivirus. That always leaves me gaping. It's like, I don't know, Lucrecia Borgia selling antidotes...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. Hey, it's a smart move by spellraiser · · Score: 5, Funny

    Selling anti-virus services for Unix/Linux is like selling ice cream to polar bears anyway. It's good to see Microsoft focusing on the real problems :P

    --
    I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
  5. Remember folks by FunWithHeadlines · · Score: 4, Funny
    Remember folks, this is called innovation, and it is how Microsoft has thrived through the years by giving the consumer choice and high-quality products. Isn't it great to have such a fine company looking out for the needs of the marketplace by removing unnecessary choice from our lives? Oh sure, the carpers could point out that Microsoft has no obligation to support a competitor's marketplace. But I choose to stay in the warm sushine of Microsoft's benevolence, and trust that if they say we don't need a product, that's good enough for me.

    Innovate onward, kind Microsoft!

    1. Re:Remember folks by Brandybuck · · Score: 2, Funny

      The current meme among left wing academia is that capitalism gives consumers too many choices. Oh the tyranny of having too many brands of toothpaste to choose from! Microsoft is merely providing a service, by eliminating choice. We should thank them for not being greedy capitalists and burdening us with the tryanny of choice!

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  6. Re:Okay, Okay by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2, Funny

    I know lots of people here are going to cry foul, but come on: Who was gonna buy anti-virus software for linux from Microsoft?

    I agree, it's like leaving your child to the care of an ex-pedophile.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  7. Re:sounds like an admission by Microsoft by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 2, Funny
    I guess I'm just happy Microsoft can't buy linux and drop all support for that.

    Big News Flash

    Microsoft buys Linux and drops all support for it.

    Oh wait, there wasn't any.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  8. what if he wasn't convicted? by BitterAndDrunk · · Score: 4, Funny
    I agree, it's like leaving your child to the care of an ex-pedophile.

    Sure he could a Smooth Criminal, but maybe he's just a fun guy who the kids think is a real Thriller!

    --
    You better watch out, there may be dogs about . . .
    1. Re:what if he wasn't convicted? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sure he could a Smooth Criminal, but maybe he's just a fun guy who the kids think is a real Thriller!

      That was lame...just Beat It.

  9. Re:OhNo! by i.r.id10t · · Score: 5, Funny

    Heh. I went to a convention where wireless users had to show that they had AV software installed before being given the connection info. Had my Linux laptop there, they wouldn't let me on until I could show them some antivirus software running. Left, came back an hour later (after breakfast), and ran my "anti virus software".

    #!/bin/bash
    echo Scanning memory for viruses...
    sleep 2
    echo OK. System clean.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
  10. WAY OT: Polar bear ice cream... by Dr.Dubious+DDQ · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here's a bit of Useless Knowledge(tm) for everyone: I seem to recall reading somewhere that polar bear milk was something like 40% fat, which seems like it would therefore be suitable for making ice-cream from directly...

    I leave the technical challenges involved in milking the polar bears and trying to market "walrus-vanilla flavor ice cream" to a more enterprising individual...

    --
    Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
  11. In other news ... by lord_rob+the+only+on · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unix/Linux has decided to cut virus support.

  12. Re:And you're surprised by this... by tbcpp · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, Microsoft does not have a monopoly on anti-virus software, they just have a monopoly on virii. They won't run on anything but Windows!

    --
    Man is the lowest-cost, 150-pound, nonlinear, all-purpose computer system which can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.
  13. Re:And you're surprised by this... by Zemplar · · Score: 2, Funny

    " And you're surprised by this why?"

    Because even Microsoft knows UNIX systems don't need antivirus software!