SlashNOT

Matthew writes: A new high velocity virus has emerged that targets non-Microsoft systems. Details are sketchy at this point, but the GnuPublic.license (or GPL for short) virus is apparently a Trojan horse–it masquerades as “free” software which users download and use, which then somehow infects the rest of the software they use.

This virus then apparently infects derivative software—software that has been written using the original GPL infected source code.

According to Microsoft, this virus is spreading so quickly that it threatens to undermine the Windows platform even though it doesn’t infect any Microsoft products. Apparently, the viral GPL software is so virulent that it can completely replace all Microsoft software on a computer. Microsoft has responded with an innoculating counter-measure called “shared source”, but will not release the antidote without a non-disclosure agreement.

UPDATE: Some recent posts indicate that this virus is the first transgenic virus to cross from computers to humans. Apparently, once a person’s computer becomes infected by the GPL, the idea of the GPL infects the user’s brain, causing them to prefer open-source software.