Ok, it seems as though it is just a problem with the battery. Just put a new one in and set the clock again. It should work fine.
Viruses as they currently are made, are operating system specific. Most of the virus trouble that is going around is directed specifically at users of the windows family of systems. The reason these programs are so harmful, is that, there are programs in the systems such as a mail client or whatever, that simply run a script automatically when you open the attachment to the letter. There does not seem to be an easy solution to this. Most viruses are what are called scripts, and they are written in one of the scripting languages that Unix users use only as old friends. However, there can be a "payload" or executable binary placed into the package of data that makes up the virus. When the script is automatically run by the windows client, the payload does its dirty work. This payload can do anything from low-level format the hard drive to duplicate itself and send out copies, to damage or destroy files to breaking down security systems and making private information publically accessible by transmitting it over the network. I have no real experience with these hateful programs other than to know a little about them from what I have read. I have never made one nor launched one, and if I ever catch anyone I have anything to do with doing this, I won't take too kindly to it. These cause billions of dollars in damage and lost productivity each time a new one comes out and I don't want to even have any ties to this kind of computing practice. Now, the reason why I have never heard of an anti-virus package for Linux is this. Throughout its history, Unix in all its flavors has traditionally been a multi-user-multi-tasking operating system. Linux is either a form of Unix or just a Unix-like system, however you wish to call it. For this reason, the same system you have on your Linux box is the same way. If you had a way to do it, you could hook up multiple users with multiple machines or even old-style terminals to your machine. This would allow them all to use your machine and it would look, to them, as though they each had access to an entire machine. I don't recommend doing this as there is quite a lot of equipment you would have to have to commect all these up at the same time. For this reason, security has been a real concern of Unix system authors since the Unix epoc beginning in 1970. Programs have been made to keep people from doing evil things to the system. This is why you have both a root and a non-priviliged account, for example, knoppix as the non-priviliged account and there is the root account, which makes you "lord of the manor" as it were. If anyone could access this, or if one could "root compromise" your system, that is, get into the root user account with a piece of malware, he could cause the same kind of trouble, but it is less than likely this will happen. Some how the program would have to be run and there is nothing on there, except for a few programs I will not mention here, that might be used to accomplish this. It is less than likely that you will have a virus. For this reason, I can reasonably say that your clock problem is not virus-related. Those batteries die ever now and then, and just put in a new one and you should be fine. Hope this helps. -- Doug Smith: C.S.F.C. Computer Scientist For CHRIST! Oralux: http://oralux.org _______________________________________________ Oralux mailing list [email protected] http://lists.freearchive.org/mailman/listinfo/oralux
