A Proof-of-Concept Virus for iPods Running Linux
An anonymous reader writes "Although antivirus companies will probably create a hype saying that iPods are prone to infections, a virus called 'Podloso' is a newly found virus that is just a proof of concept code that can infect iPods running Linux. Once launched, the virus scans the device's hard disk and infects all executable .elf format files. Any attempt to launch these files will cause the virus to display a message on the screen which says, 'You are infected with Oslo the first iPodLinux Virus.'"
You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict Linux on the iPod's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Linux on the iPod faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Linux on the iPod because Linux on the iPod is dying. Things are looking very bad for Linux on the iPod. As many of us are already aware, Linux on the iPod continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
Linux on the iPod leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of Linux on the iPod. How many users of Linux on the iPod are there? Let's see. The number of Linux on the iPod versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 Linux on the iPod users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of Linux on the iPod posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put Linux on the iPod at about 80 percent of the Linux on the iPod market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 Linux on the iPod users. This is consistent with the number of Linux on the iPod Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, Linux on the iPod went out of business and was taken over by Linux on the iPod who sell another troubled OS. Now Linux on the iPod is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
All major surveys show that Linux on the iPod has steadily declined in market share. Linux on the iPod is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Linux on the iPod is to survive at all it will be among OS hobbyist dabblers. Linux on the iPod continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Linux on the iPod is dead.
Linux on the iPod is dying
so nothing to see here, move along. LINSUX, LINSUX!
Linux sucks. It is an underground OS that is completely unstandardized. Linux geeks, get the fuck over yourselves.