TerraOS Antivirus Released
Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:21 pm
May 4348
Image: The icon for the TerraOS Antivirus.
After the release of the TerraOS (TOS) nearly four years ago, the Ataraxian computer science, system software, and application software cooperatives have been hard at work on the TerraOS Antivirus (TOSA), a free open-source antivirus designed for the TOS. It released this month after spending 9 months in public beta, which saw participation from 11,520 TOS users. The number of TOS users has risen to 1.6 million since its release and is expected to rise modestly once more native software has been released for the operating system.
Cleveland Irwin, a 35-year-old computer scientist and present Organizer of the Computer Science Cooperative of the Commune of Ataraxia, led the project with assistance from Guus Sims (main system programmer behind the TerraOS), another fellow organizer from the same commune who leads the System Software Cooperative.
Early reviews for the TOSA has indicated that the antivirus does indeed provide the same level of protection as other antivirus competitors and is even lighter on system resources. Critics however made note that the TOSA has a tendency to declare false positives and be aggressively overprotective, forcing users to make manual exceptions. Other reviewers also stated that like the TerraOS, the Ataraxians provide little support for less technologically inclined users and focus solely on technical problems. Some had raised concerns whether or not the Ataraxians would be able to keep up with future threats specifically designed for the TerraOS. Overall however, user reviews were very positive, praising the clean interface, security, and performance of the TOSA.
According to Guus Sims, many industry professionals have praised the work and mission of the Ataraxians for TerraOS.
Image: The icon for the TerraOS Antivirus.
After the release of the TerraOS (TOS) nearly four years ago, the Ataraxian computer science, system software, and application software cooperatives have been hard at work on the TerraOS Antivirus (TOSA), a free open-source antivirus designed for the TOS. It released this month after spending 9 months in public beta, which saw participation from 11,520 TOS users. The number of TOS users has risen to 1.6 million since its release and is expected to rise modestly once more native software has been released for the operating system.
Cleveland Irwin, a 35-year-old computer scientist and present Organizer of the Computer Science Cooperative of the Commune of Ataraxia, led the project with assistance from Guus Sims (main system programmer behind the TerraOS), another fellow organizer from the same commune who leads the System Software Cooperative.
Cleveland Irwin wrote:Right now the TOSA is compatible only with the TerraOS, but we hope in the future that other operating systems will make compatibility layers for our operating system in order to run our native software. We've seen an explosion of users on the TerraOS, so we hope that by releasing the TOSA, more users will come to see the potential of the TerraOS to replace current mainstream proprietary operating systems. As Sims have said, quality is very important to Ataraxians. We will continuously update the TOSA to protect users against new emerging threats and to compete with the functionality of proprietary antivirus programs.
Early reviews for the TOSA has indicated that the antivirus does indeed provide the same level of protection as other antivirus competitors and is even lighter on system resources. Critics however made note that the TOSA has a tendency to declare false positives and be aggressively overprotective, forcing users to make manual exceptions. Other reviewers also stated that like the TerraOS, the Ataraxians provide little support for less technologically inclined users and focus solely on technical problems. Some had raised concerns whether or not the Ataraxians would be able to keep up with future threats specifically designed for the TerraOS. Overall however, user reviews were very positive, praising the clean interface, security, and performance of the TOSA.
Cleveland Irwin wrote:Our design philosophy was that it was better to have too many false positives than to let any threats pass through. For future updates, we will hopefully be able to cut back on the amount of false positives while still ensuring actual threats are detected. Unlike the legal system, we don't have to worry about "jailing the innocent" since it is software we are talking about here.
Since we use this software to protect ourselves as well, users can be assured that we will continue to research any emerging threats to our operating system. The best part of open-source software is that the community can also contribute to its development. As a user base grows, so will the community of volunteers. Our users are very passionate about our work and they see how valuable open-source software is to the future of computing.
According to Guus Sims, many industry professionals have praised the work and mission of the Ataraxians for TerraOS.
Guus Sims wrote:We understand the reason why software is sold, after all, programmers need to put food on the table just like anyone else. The "problem" with software or any virtual resource is that it has - forgive the pun - virtually no limits on how many users can gain access to it. We could easily give every computer user in the world TerraOS at virtually no cost to us. Unlike food or some other physical resource, software can be duplicated essentially an infinite number of times.
Unlike most societies, our society shares its resources collectively. Therefore our programmers are not dependent on an income, but rather are supported by their own society on the basis that software benefits all industries - everyone. We still have to trade, but we do mostly in physical goods, which we can't afford to give to everyone because there is an actual limit on the quantity of those resources.
This is what many industry professionals have praised us for because we can save them a lot of money. By gradually developing free software that has the same quality as for-profit software, it will significantly reduce costs for working professionals. Unlike for-profit software companies, our programmers aren't worried about whether or not their software will make a profit, they aren't bound by strict deadlines, and as a result can take the extra time they need to produce software that actually works. Imagine how much small businesses, independent contractors, and even schools could save if they didn't have to pay for software licensing fees. Or worse... the growing software-as-a-service industry that doesn't even allow consumers to own a perpetual license anymore. All of that money spent on licensing could be directed to other uses. In the case of schools, it could be spent on decreasing class sizes, allowing teachers to provide more attention for individual students etc.
Societies need to understand the important value of publicly funding research and development. Profit can come in many different forms other than money. It can come in the form of a more educated and productive workforce. The police and military for example do not typically produce a profit on their own, but they provide "profit" to society in the form of safety and protection. Sending people to space doesn't produce an income, but it does promote technological growth and a better understanding of our universe - all of which indirectly benefit the economy.
Our programmers may not directly produce money for us, but they build the very programs that machines and people rely on to function and therefore produce money. Overall the selling of software is unnecessary and puts an artificial limit to growth. Programmers, like scientists, should be supported collectively by their societies. Our scientists and programmers really see "food on the table" as just a necessity, their real drive comes from wanting to make society better. While our people live comfortably, nobody has expensive sports cars, multiple homes or other completely unnecessary goods for sufficient happiness.