http://wabisabilabi.blogspot.com/2007/05/when-vendors-get-nuts.html

“When vendors get nuts”

I’m not sure I deserve the shout-out from Kelly G, but I appreciate it!

To address one point in the post, though, you have to step back a minute and remember that those McAfee posts are probably made by one of their devs.  They’re human and, while it’s been over 13 years since I’ve been anywhere near there, they probably wish that the company was unnecessary as much as we did back then.

We (meaning I) always used to dream (not fear!) that Microsoft would destroy the anti-virus business by actually implementing a good file and disk security system in DOS…only in nightmares did we imagine that it’d be 2007 and this crap would still be around.  I lay most of the blame at Microsoft’s door, for some fundamental design failures (too-easy blending of data and code), but it’s also possible we didn’t do enough to evangelize TO the OS vendors.

Still, shareholders be damned; for the people in the trenches of anti-virus work, what many REALLY wanted is the world to be a better place, so our software wasn’t necessary.

It was often quite exciting work, and I freely admit I made a small bundle out of it (not anywhere near as much as some, and I got screwed by the IRS in the end!), but there was always that thought of, ‘I wish these twits would stop writing this crap.’

Every single time you talk to a customer (which even devs did back then) it was driven home once more how much heartache viruses caused people.

What I wouldn’t give to take every person who wants to write a virus because they think it’s ‘cool’, to sit on a customer support line for a few hours, talking to people who’ve been hurt by viruses. 

I’ve never (before or after) been exactly a law-abiding citizen online, but after my experience at McAfee I had a very strong aversion to building things that can cause pain to others.

There are people who build viruses because they’re paid to, and there’s nothing really to be done about that, and there are people who don’t care about anybody because of psychological issues…
If you just think it’s cool, though…just imagine someone you cared about, losing all their data, because of what you’re doing.  Find a better hobby.

–  Morgan Schweers