VM appears to be infected
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
VM |
Fix Released
|
Low
|
Uday Reddy |
Bug Description
When I load VM 8.0.14 in an emacs running in text mode, particularly when running over a low-bandwidth connection, I can see the text "VM is now infected" flash by in the emacs mode line.
I realize that this message probably is just an expression of some kind of sick humor, but a user could easily mistake it for a warning message indicating some kind of virus or malware infection and be needlessly startled or alarmed. A closer inspection of the complete message might alleviate such concerns, but is hard to do because the mesage flashes by very quickly and there is no easy way to get it back once it's gone. I would like to see the message either removed or changed to something like "vm-rfaddons loaded", which would not have this issue and would give a more professional impression.
To reproduce, run "emacs -nw -f vm" under script(1), exit emacs, exit the shell started by script(1), and then look for the message
in the typescript file, for example using
grep infected typescript | cat -v
Related branches
Changed in vm: | |
status: | New → Fix Committed |
importance: | Undecided → Low |
milestone: | none → 8.1.93a |
assignee: | nobody → Uday Reddy (reddyuday) |
Changed in vm: | |
status: | Fix Committed → Fix Released |
Thanks for the report.
The 'infected' message is one created by various add-ons that infect VM i.e.
change VM's behavior in some way. Enabling vm-rfaddons is one example where
this occurs. For example, my *Messages* buffer has
Loading vm-vars...done for-empty- subject' . Mail-VM/ INBOX.. . done
Adding vm-rfaddons-option `check-recipients'.
Adding vm-rfaddons-option `check-
Adding vm-rfaddons-option `encode-headers'.
VM-RFADDONS: VM is now infected.
Reading /home/tcross/
Note that you can always retrieve such messages by looking in the *Messages*
buffer. There is no need to use typescript.
Your point regarding creating concerns for the end user has some validity, message- infect- vm and infect- vm which use this terminology.
especially for those using VM under MS Windows. On the other hand, the concept
of an add-on infecting a program has some history and established meaning. For
example, there are two functions, vm-ps-print-
vm-rfaddons-
I think the suggestion is worth considering, but as it involves modifications
to add-on packages that are not part of core VM and as there are existing
functions that use the terminology, I think it should be a low priority
wishlist item.
Tim
--
Tim Cross
<email address hidden>
There are two types of people in IT - those who do not manage what
they understand and those who do not understand what they manage.
--
Tim Cross
<email address hidden>
There are two types of people in IT - those who do not manage what they
understand and those who do not understand what they manage.