Originally Posted By: Stelth
Well, there is malware out there for Linux. However, it's not nearly the problem it is for Windows machines. Still, you should get some protection running.
Hogwash. I've cleaned more malware off of one Windows laptop than probably exists on every Linux machine on the planet combined plus every theoretical compromise combined.
Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
Linux just doesn't have enough market share to attract hackers.
That's a gross oversimplification to the point of being disingenuous. The security model in Linux is totally different from the historical Windows (and even DOS, and AmigaDOS, and however far back you want to go) security model.
Linux does have enough market share to attract hackers. As was stated earlier in the thread, FUD. Windows may be important on desktops and laptops, and Linux may be marginal there. That's decidedly not the case in servers. Run Linux for a while, and then you'll see exactly why it's secure. Try deleting crucial files without root or root type access. Try installing or uninstalling something in the same fashion.
And yes, Windows users like to see other people as miserable as them. How would the Windows automotive experience go? To get functional safety equipment, you have to go to another vendor (i.e. antivirus). To do your brakes, you have to go to a completely different service centre than for oil changes, and a different one for tires, and a different one for exhaust, and a different one for air filters, and another for plugs, and another for suspension work (i.e. Flash updates, browser updates, AV updates, player updates, driver updates, InstallShield updates, miscellaneous software updates). In many versions of Linux, you type:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
And that's it; or, the updates can be unattended. The important thing is that they're all done at the same time from the same place. There's no chance of installing the wrong thing by going to the wrong site or clicking on a popup that installs nonsense, or having ten startup applications checking for updates the second you turn the machine on, or running update jobs in the background all the time.
uc50ic4more: The two biggest Windows cash cows (aside from Windows itself and "expert" advice) are antivirus and backup software. The Linux alternatives, with which you are well versed, are much better and free: Nothing and tar, respectively.
