WINE = virus concern for OS X?
Apparently, WINE is now running on OS X:
http://osx86project.org/index.php?op...d=112&Itemid=2
This seems like a great crossover technology, allowing Win apps to run alongside OS X apps. But unlike Virtual PC, these apps have access to the same disk and memory space as normal OS X apps, right?
Questions then:
-- Does WINE allow Win virii access to the OS X file system?
-- Can WINE and/or OS X be configured to block WINE apps (and virii) from accessing the primary OS X file system? ie: Limit WINE apps access to their own partition?
Anyone have insight into this? If there is a risk, it may be more prudent to use Virtual PC as a self-contained Windows "sandbox."
http://osx86project.org/index.php?op...d=112&Itemid=2
This seems like a great crossover technology, allowing Win apps to run alongside OS X apps. But unlike Virtual PC, these apps have access to the same disk and memory space as normal OS X apps, right?
Questions then:
-- Does WINE allow Win virii access to the OS X file system?
-- Can WINE and/or OS X be configured to block WINE apps (and virii) from accessing the primary OS X file system? ie: Limit WINE apps access to their own partition?
Anyone have insight into this? If there is a risk, it may be more prudent to use Virtual PC as a self-contained Windows "sandbox."
Comments
Originally posted by imiloa
Apparently, WINE is now running on OS X:
http://osx86project.org/index.php?op...d=112&Itemid=2
This seems like a great crossover technology, allowing Win apps to run alongside OS X apps. But unlike Virtual PC, these apps have access to the same disk and memory space as normal OS X apps, right?
Questions then:
-- Does WINE allow Win virii access to the OS X file system?
-- Can WINE and/or OS X be configured to block WINE apps (and virii) from accessing the primary OS X file system? ie: Limit WINE apps access to their own partition?
Anyone have insight into this? If there is a risk, it may be more prudent to use Virtual PC as a self-contained Windows "sandbox."
WINE is not Windows. It is only a cloned set of APIs which allows Windows apps to run on the host OS, which is MacOS X 10.4.4 in this case. I believe that prudence is in order, but I see no evidence that WINE will compromise the security model of MacOS X.
Originally posted by Mr. Me
WINE is not Windows. It is only a cloned set of APIs which allows Windows apps to run on the host OS...
I've done some Irix/X11 coding, so I understand the basic concepts. Agreed that OS/registry virii wouldn't find their footholds.
My concern is that, if WINE allows Win apps to call file system APIs as if it were Windows below, won't most file-based virii, eg: apps, worms, Word/Excel macros, etc..., be able to run amok?
Originally posted by imiloa
I've done some Irix/X11 coding, so I understand the basic concepts. Agreed that OS/registry virii wouldn't find their footholds.
My concern is that, if WINE allows Win apps to call file system APIs as if it were Windows below, won't most file-based virii, eg: apps, worms, Word/Excel macros, etc..., be able to run amok?
Can we please stop pretending "virii" is the plural form of "virus"? "Viruses" is a perfectly good word and has been around for much longer.
Originally posted by imiloa
My concern is that, if WINE allows Win apps to call file system APIs as if it were Windows below, won't most file-based virii, eg: apps, worms, Word/Excel macros, etc..., be able to run amok?
WINE has been running on Linux for about 9 years now - when's the last time you heard of a Linux virus?
http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?s...30222&from=rss
C.
Originally posted by elron
Can we please stop pretending "virii" is the plural form of "virus"? "Viruses" is a perfectly good word and has been around for much longer.
Then can we stop pretending we're an Oxford English teacher and come to grips that this is just a geek board. Further if the point is clear then there is now reason to criticize or ask for absurd grammar changes as to make one feel superior.
Originally posted by Carniphage
This is worth reading
http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?s...30222&from=rss
C.
Thanks, Carniphage! That's exactly the feedback I was hoping for. I'm keen on a new Macbook and trying WINE, but was a bit wary. Seems less of a concern after reading that article.
Relic, kudos on the Ox English jab. I wasn't going to bother, but I guess it is useful to distribute chill pills now and then.
For the record, of course virii is not a word. I just like the way it sounds. Having studied five years of Latin in high school, I believe the proper plural would be viri, as in alumnus/alumni. But that doesn't diminish the sleek evil onomatopoeia of virii, which is completely lost with viruses...
Originally posted by Relic
Then can we stop pretending we're an Oxford English teacher and come to grips that this is just a geek board. Further if the point is clear then there is now reason to criticize or ask for absurd grammar changes as to make one feel superior.
Get off your high horse. I'm sure you've never corrected anyone for anything
Originally posted by elron
Get off your high horse. I'm sure you've never corrected anyone for anything
Not for a grammar mistake, especially for a word that is so widely used by the tech community as ?virii?. See this is a tech board, a place where geeks come to conjugate, so the use of hacker terminology is very respectable and encouraged to promote the community for the sake of entertainment. My only point was if the message in the post is clear then we as patrons should be nonchalance about such silly things. This is a leisure forum as you know. Can you imagine if President Bush had to endure these kinds of grammar corrections from his peers?