Summary: Discussions of malware have their own equivalent to Godwin’s Law: As the conversation grows longer, the probability that someone will derail the discussion by arguing over the meaning of ‘virus’ approaches near-certainty.
Every time I write about the issue of malware on PCs and Macs, it is only a matter of time before someone shows up in the comments to get pedantic over the correct usage of the word virus.
In the Talkback section of a post I published last week, a commenter told me I “blew it” with an illustration I used, which contained Apple’s reference to the Mac having no “PC viruses.” He (it’s always a “he”) went on at excruciating length to explain all the different types of viruses. It was a trip to a world of strange creatures that would have made Tolkien proud. It was erudite, in a 15th Century way. He closed by reminding me that I need to “pay more attention” to facts.
