-=> Quoting Curtis Canning to Rick Collins <=-
-=> FidoMail to 1:163/215, please.-=<
RC> mean.  Are you talking about a virus or about a Trojan?  They are
RC> _not_ the same things.
CC> Well my understanding of a virus and a trojan is that,
CC> a trojan sits on your computer and waits for a certain
CC> time and date and then it activates it self and infects
CC> your files, and a virus is when it keeps on infecting
CC> files when you activate a program or reboot the computer.
CC> "please correct me if I'm wrong"
You're wrong.  What you describe _could_ be a trojan.  The essential
aspect of a "virus" is that it replicates.  The essential aspect of a
Trojan is that it does one thing openly (you know it does that thing)
but it does something else that is hidden from you, and that you
would _not_ want done if you knew about it.
Anything else either the "virus" or "Trojan" does is incidental and
doesn't affect whether it is a "virus" or "Trojan".
rc> Why not ask for somethig just as unreasonable: "Software
rc> companies should make the files so they can't get infected and
rc> cover all possibilities". Then, you wouldn't need to worry
rc> about "infected files" at all. 
CC> Nothing is impossible, and if they do invent something
CC> like that, the person who programed it will be very rich,
CC> and it will change the virus industry and put the major
CC> virus companys out of business.
Some things _are_ impossible.  You learn that with age.
CC> Then people would have to resort to programming bombs, instead
CC> of viruses.
They don't _have_ to resort to anything.
TTFN. Rick.
Ottawa, ON 27 Jan 20:29 
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