IMPORTANT: Virus information

[Celso Alvarez Cáccamo]

Hello,

The virus is Bill Gates. Richest person on earth.

Virus are avoidable. To a certain extent, Bill Gates is, too.

I suggest:

1) Not allowing attachments in messages to the list (are they allowed now?).

2) If attachments are a must, allow only PDF files. There are FREE programs 
to turn any document into a PDF file. Ghostview / Ghostcript are free 
utilities. It takes a couple of steps to turn a file into a virus-free PDF 
file, but then it works like magic. Ghostview / Ghostcript are not Microsoft.

3) Not using Outlook or Outlook Express. There are better, alternative 
email programs. I like Eudora. It's not Microsoft.

4) Not using Microsoft Word in order to avoid opening and sending DOC files 
with macro viruses. There are better word processors. I use and like Word 
Perfect 8. It's not Microsoft.

5) Installing a "firewall" that detects unwanted calls in and out of one's 
machine. I suggest Tiny Personal Firewall, freeware. It's not Microsoft.

6) Installing a good antivirus, of course. Norton, McAfee, PC-Cilin or 
Panda are NOT Microsoft. Ain't it funny/interesting that Microsoft hasn't 
developed or doesn't own any of the major antivirus packages around? 
Instead, Microsoft constantly urges users to "upgrade" to another version 
and to install "patches" to Windows due to "security holes".

Isn't it funny, too, that a good antivirus is NOT "bundled" together with 
Windows, as Internet Explorer is? Or with Office? It would be easy for 
Microsoft. Why don't they do it?

Cheers,
-celso
Celso Alvarez Cáccamo
lxalvarz at udc.es


At 15:15 2002-01-29 -0600, you wrote:
>Dear all,
>
>The DISCOURSE list seems to be distributing many viruses lately. . . .