Bliss (virus)
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Bliss is a computer virus that infects GNU/Linux systems. Its source code was posted on a Usenet usergroup by its author on February 5, 1997. When executed, it attempts to attach itself to Linux executable files, which regular users do not have access to. This prevents the executables from running, so users notice it immediately. Although it was probably intended to prove that Linux can be infected, it does not propagate very effectively because of the structure of Linux's user privilege system. The Bliss virus never became widespread, and remains chiefly a research curiosity.
When the Bliss virus was released, antivirus software vendors put out a number of press releases about it. The claim was that since a "Linux virus" existed, Linux users should buy antivirus software. Linux users generally do not use antivirus software, except on servers that serve files to Windows clients.
It writes a neat log of all its actions to /tmp/.bliss and even has a --bliss-uninfect-files-please command line option that sometimes might come in handy, and actually does what it promises.
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