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Why I don't mind being called a 'fanboy'

I heard about this particular worm, but didn't realize it was THAT bad. Apparently, part of the problem is being blamed on slow corporate patch cycles... and Microsoft's Patch Tuesday policy being wholly inadequate.
 
Let's just hope it stays this way. The Mac popularity is increasing and may do so to a stage where these losers who write the viruses think it's worthwhile to do so for OS X.
 
numbersyx said:
Let's just hope it stays this way. The Mac popularity is increasing and may do so to a stage where these losers who write the viruses think it's worthwhile to do so for OS X.
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Market-share has nothing to do with viruses on OS X. Probably thousands of people would have tried to code a virus for OS X just to shut mac users up, but so far it looks as if they are failed. And mostly this is to do with OS X being based on UNIX.

Mac OS 9 had a couple hundred viruses available for it, and had next to nothing market-share, yet OS X has a lot more market-share and has NO VIRUSES, not one in the wild.
 
lee.anderson said:
Market-share has nothing to do with viruses on OS X. Probably thousands of people would have tried to code a virus for OS X just to shut mac users up, but so far it looks as if they are failed. And mostly this is to do with OS X being based on UNIX.

Mac OS 9 had a couple hundred viruses available for it, and had next to nothing market-share, yet OS X has a lot more market-share and has NO VIRUSES, not one in the wild.
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What he said.

Windows has viruses because of flaws in its system design or its need to support legacy. Just as an example, Apache is far more popular than Microsoft's IIS yet IIS has had far more exploits over the years. Vista and 7 are a step in the right direction, so kudos to them on that.

Despite what people say, OS X will remain relatively virus free.
 
Theophany said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7832652.stm



Seriously, this kind of thing just puts a smile on my face, it makes all the 'omg, fanboy' comments worth it... until I end up having to fix these problems for my clients. :rolleyes:

Viva la resistance! :cool:
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being a fanboy is not a good thing:rolleyes:
Fanboy is a term used to describe any individual who is devoted to a single subject in an emotional or fanatical manner, or to a single point of view within that subject, often to the point where it is considered an obsession.
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Am I a fan of apple? yes, for osx only. However, if MS or any other company made an OS that's better, Id jump in a heartbeat

However, I'm amazed that one would take delight in the fact that people have their computers get effed up by a virus.
 
dukebound85 said:
being a fanboy is not a good thing:rolleyes:


Am I a fan of apple? yes, for osx only. However, if MS or any other company made an OS that's better, Id jump in a heartbeat

However, I'm amazed that one would take delight in the fact that people have their computers get effed up by a virus.
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Being a fanboy is only considered a bad thing by people who use it as an insult. There's nothing wrong with being a fan of a company, and fanboy is simply an alternate term that has gained derogatory meaning from internet trolls.

Also, there's nothing wrong with taking satisfaction from the fact that while 8.9m computers are infected by this virus, your own OS is invulnerable to it. You can pity those who are infected (though I chalk it up to their poor decision either to run Windows or to fail to protect it adequately), but it's perfectly acceptable to be happy not to be a part of the problem.

jW
 
Mal said:
Being a fanboy is only considered a bad thing by people who use it as an insult. There's nothing wrong with being a fan of a company, and fanboy is simply an alternate term that has gained derogatory meaning from internet trolls.
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Most fanboys are smug little turds. It's not just believing that you're using a better product. The problem is that fanboys feel that they're using a better product, and also project a sense of superiority over others who are using a competitor's product.

Of course, when someone else suffers some sort of setback, whether security or otherwise, fanboys think it's time to say "I told you so!" Of course, they tend to follow it up with, "but that just means my family/friends/boss/co-workers will call me up and ask me to help them update their OS and check for viruses. UGH!" It's hard to find a fanboy post where he doesn't follow up his smug little post with a "Woe is me" sentence for having to help out his clueless, PC-using friends.

Mac fanboy-ism is just as ugly as unwarranted Mac bashing. It's also particularly sad that their choice of computer is so closely connected to them personally that they'd get offended if someone said something bad about a mass-produced product that they purchased. What, it's not they had a hand in the process of designing it. It's not like the machine loves them in return.


And knowing about a Microsoft exploit never brings a smile to my face. I don't know why it should.
 
Abstract said:
Most fanboys are smug little turds... blah blah blah
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I get the feeling that was directed at me? I'm not sure. If it was, it was totally inaccurate on so many levels. :)

I said I don't mind being called a fanboy when this kind of news is always circulating the Internet in some form. Whether or not I am a fanboy is a totally different matter, I just don't have any interest in arguing whether or not I am. ;)

It's not so much a smugness that my Macs don't get infected, it's just a load off my mind. It makes me smile because I don't have to go through any of that any more - desperately checking everything is as it should be and that I have all the relevant updates to protect myself as much as possible. I'm more into actually using my computers than wasting time making sure other people aren't.
 
lee.anderson said:
Market-share has nothing to do with viruses on OS X. Probably thousands of people would have tried to code a virus for OS X just to shut mac users up, but so far it looks as if they are failed. And mostly this is to do with OS X being based on UNIX.

Mac OS 9 had a couple hundred viruses available for it, and had next to nothing market-share, yet OS X has a lot more market-share and has NO VIRUSES, not one in the wild.
Click to expand...

You're dreaming if you think market share has nothing to do with it. It has. There is no doubt that the UNIX system is more of a deterrent than the Windows foundations but it can be done. It isn't because there aren't enough users for the writers to expend the energy doing so...
 
Marketshare has very little to do with it. Numbersyx is right. You don't think a lot of people out there would aim squarely at OS X? Apple's name is all over the news, and I'm sure every person who writes virii wants to see a Mac get one, ASAP. Apple's ubiquity with the fashion conscious who only want their computer to be pretty is reason enough for outcasts of society to sit in their dark little room and writing viruses to ruin our week.

Besides, our marketshare isn't so small that we're invisible. Apple is #4 in computer sales in North America, and are also the most easy to despise for being too mainstream, believe it or not.


Theophany said:
I get the feeling that was directed at me? I'm not sure. If it was, it was totally inaccurate on so many levels. :)
Click to expand...

No, that statement was directed at all fanboys, and not just Apple fanboys.
 
Abstract said:
Marketshare has very little to do with it. Numbersyx is right. You don't think a lot of people out there would aim squarely at OS X? Apple's name is all over the news, a[...]
Click to expand...

The other day I was thinking about this. It has been a long time since I last heard of a virus that would cause data loss or corruption of data, as these days most malware seems to be targeted at spreading spam and sending passwords back to the malware maker... in these cases, what happens may not be a virus infection (ie: code latches on to existing executables and does stuff by itself), in many cases the user installs something they should not install - and this is something that could as easily happen to someone running OS X.

Just imagine the following:
hundreds of people come to this forum and have a look at the "post you Mac setup!!!1!!" thread. Some of them go install FLIQLO without asking who made it or why. Rinse and repeat for a couple of years.. until one day you are updating FLIQLO to the newest version and you don't even wonder why the installation routine is asking you to authenticate as an admin user...
If this were to happen, and someone would want to cause damage, they could for example check for a specific date and on the 3rd execution of the screensaver they could delete something important: boom! thousands of Macs would break down on the same date.

I have nothing against the people who made FLIQLO and I'm not accusing them of anything, just saying that there is a lot of trust in unknown executables and that a lot of people switched to Mac just so they are able to carry on being careless users.
 
numbersyx said:
Let's just hope it stays this way. The Mac popularity is increasing and may do so to a stage where these losers who write the viruses think it's worthwhile to do so for OS X.
Click to expand...

Market share has minimal affect on that.

Giz Explains: Why OS X Shrugs Off Viruses Better Than Windows
http://i.gizmodo.com/5101337/giz-explains-why-os-x-shrugs-off-viruses-better-than-windows

The Unavoidable Malware Myth
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/...-apple-wont-inherit-microsofts-malware-crown/

Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: 64-bit security
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/16/road_to_mac_os_x_snow_leopard_64_bit_security.html

wrldwzrd89 said:
I heard about this particular worm, but didn't realize it was THAT bad. Apparently, part of the problem is being blamed on slow corporate patch cycles... and Microsoft's Patch Tuesday policy being wholly inadequate.
Click to expand...

Actually, due to the annoying nature of MS forced updates (if you are away for 5 minutes when update comes up, MS force install and restart your machine, causing you to loose all unsaved work), many people turn off their auto updates.
 
nplima said:
Just imagine the following:
hundreds of people come to this forum and have a look at the "post you Mac setup!!!1!!" thread. Some of them go install FLIQLO without asking who made it or why. Rinse and repeat for a couple of years.. until one day you are updating FLIQLO to the newest version and you don't even wonder why the installation routine is asking you to authenticate as an admin user...
If this were to happen, and someone would want to cause damage, they could for example check for a specific date and on the 3rd execution of the screensaver they could delete something important: boom! thousands of Macs would break down on the same date.

I have nothing against the people who made FLIQLO and I'm not accusing them of anything, just saying that there is a lot of trust in unknown executables and that a lot of people switched to Mac just so they are able to carry on being careless users.
Click to expand...

That is a valid point, but is not a proof of vulnerability of the system, only a proof of vulnerability of psychology. Of course if I am surreptitiously induced to give away my password anything may ensue!

The argument would be similar to saying: the system is unsafe because if I hypnotize you and tell you to login as root and do "rm -r /" this will hose your computer.

It is true that there is the practice in the OSX world to require admin password to install programs: however this is mostly done by the ``official installer''. A malicious program could have the pkg extension but actually (and simply) launch a lookalike of the Installer and snatch your admin password, at which point you would be in their hands.

This does not apply to the regular applications, which are simply drag-n-dropped (you still need the password but not to run the program, only to move it to Applications).

Anyway, there is no system that can be protected by human mistakes.
 
Mal said:
Being a fanboy is only considered a bad thing by people who use it as an insult. There's nothing wrong with being a fan of a company, and fanboy is simply an alternate term that has gained derogatory meaning from internet trolls.
Click to expand...

Being a 'fan' and a 'fanboy' are totally different things. You can be a fan whilst still being a rational, well adjusted individual; fanboy has come to exemplify an extreme closed minded, militant attitude. Whatever about the original usage of the term, it's use in the common parlance has become corrupted. Much in the same way that terms -once politically correct- like 'retarded' are now unacceptable.
 
Consultant said:
MS forced updates (if you are away for 5 minutes when update comes up, MS force install and restart your machine, causing you to loose all unsaved work), many people turn off their auto updates.
Click to expand...
eh. on xp, you can set WU/wuauclt (updates) in various ways, run wuaucpl.cpl:
- alert to availability.
- download, alert, wait to install when commanded. either this option or previous option will leave the alert up for however long it takes for the nuke shockwaves to wipe out your continent. xp will not autorestart from these options.
- full auto (I've never used that, so maybe the "restart now?" box does timeout and default restart the os. Since full auto causes "mysterious" false positives from various anti-malware, is best to avoid fullauto.) Has scheduler option.
- shutoff the WU checks (big red shield "not recommended" )
 
Theophany said:
I get the feeling that was directed at me? I'm not sure. If it was, it was totally inaccurate on so many levels. :)

I said I don't mind being called a fanboy when this kind of news is always circulating the Internet in some form. Whether or not I am a fanboy is a totally different matter, I just don't have any interest in arguing whether or not I am. ;)

It's not so much a smugness that my Macs don't get infected, it's just a load off my mind. It makes me smile because I don't have to go through any of that any more - desperately checking everything is as it should be and that I have all the relevant updates to protect myself as much as possible. I'm more into actually using my computers than wasting time making sure other people aren't.
Click to expand...

Be proud! I too am a fanboy. There is NOTHING wrong with knowing we use the best OS out there, and that everyone else is on a different planet thinking Windows is even half as good as OS X. What's funny is that no matter what I say on this forum people will try to discredit me. The problem is a lot of people claim they are "IT people" when in fact they are not, so it looses meaning. Sorry, but the fact is I am an "IT person", I work for the Department of Defense. I can tell you from experience, Windows is a friggin' security nightmare. You should see the outrageous list of services and ports we have to close and vulnerabilities that are specific just to the Windows OS (ever run a Retina report??). Ridiculous.
 
The most egregious fanboys of the world by far are Microsoft fanboys. They span the globe and make the universal "oh, brother" sign whenever someone would dare suggest another platform. It does not matter which. It could be OS X, a flavor of Linux, Solaris, you name it. Whichever you mention, YOU are labeled a fanboy of that platform. It confuses them if you mention more than one, because then they're unsure how to categorize you. If they work for IT, if you say Microsoft they are rearing to go but if you dare suggest another platform they need test results, benchmarks, etc. and are looking for any single excuse to be against the idea, even if ABC other platform is proven to perform XYZ much more safely & reliably at a lower cost, and if you tell them that you can be sure they're calling you a fanboy of ABC behind your back, which ironically makes them, and/or the people they are beholden to, the fanboys.
 
I am with you 100% of the way!!!
One of the many reasons I too love being called an Apple fanboy.
And unlike many PC/Microsoft fanboys I know what the hell I'm talking about.
 
I agree with Senior Linux's statement that human error cannot be "solved". That's how many viruses spread is through the simple lack of knowledge of people opening attachments and downloading questionable software. It's not fair to say "IT'S CAUSE IT'S WINDOWS!". I say that people, by default, buy something with windows when they are simply looking for a computer, and, odds are, they are more suseptible to falling victim to a cascade of viruses.

I've used windows all my life. Have yet to own a Mac. 'Nuff Said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem
 
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