Opportunities with Linux

[dusken]

I know.

No, you did not. You are lying.

[Sip]

I agree with Anileve that Linux gives you absolute control over everything. Afterall, the source code is there so you can change ANYTHING you want.

However, this openness could cause problems in terms of security I think. My comment about security was not about this however. Linux can be made very tight and very secure if you really know what you are doing. But so can windows. I wouldn't say one is necessarily more secure than the other at this point. The one advantage that windows has is that there are experts out there (at Microsoft) actively patching up all the holes for us, the average users ... we simply need to run windows update once in a while.

I haven't yet seen the equivalent of windows update in linux. Once such a mechanism is in place, then I'll sleep better at night running my linux servers (if I had any) The thing with security is that there is no fool proof system ... as history has shown, anything will eventually be broken somehow.

[dusken]

I believe that would be "full," unless I misunderstood the idea.

[anileve]

I believe that would be "full," unless I misunderstood the idea.

Lesson #1: When you have nothing to say...correct others.

[Sip]

"foolproof"? Is that the term in reference? I should not have put a space there but I did mean it in this context:

foolproof (adjective)
1. designed to function despite human error: designed to continue working properly in the face of any kind of human error, incompetence, or misuse

[dusken]

I misunderstood. Very good.

[dusken]

Lesson #1: When you have nothing to say...correct others.

Lesson #2: If you are as dumb or dumber than anileve, shut the snatch up.

[anileve]

I agree with Anileve that Linux gives you absolute control over everything. Afterall, the source code is there so you can change ANYTHING you want.

However, this openness could cause problems in terms of security I think. My comment about security was not about this however. Linux can be made very tight and very secure if you really know what you are doing. But so can windows. I wouldn't say one is necessarily more secure than the other at this point. The one advantage that windows has is that there are experts out there (at Microsoft) actively patching up all the holes for us, the average users ... we simply need to run windows update once in a while.

I haven't yet seen the equivalent of windows update in linux. Once such a mechanism is in place, then I'll sleep better at night running my linux servers (if I had any) The thing with security is that there is no fool proof system ... as history has shown, anything will eventually be broken somehow.

I hope you read the article to which I posted the link. Also read this.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A34978-2003Aug23&notFound=true

[anileve]

Lesson #2: If you are as dumb or dumber than anileve, shut the snatch up.

Lesson #3: If you are as gallant as dusken, drown yourself.

[Sip]

Here's the critical quote from the article

The patches that aren't downloaded: Windows is better than most operating systems at easing the drudgery of staying on top of patches and bug fixes, since it can automatically download them. A PC kept current with Microsoft's security updates would have survived this week unscathed.

But hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Windows systems still got Blasted, even though the patch to stop this worm was released weeks ago.

Part of this is users' fault. "Critical updates" are called that for a reason, and it's foolish to ignore them. (The same goes for not installing and updating anti-virus software.)

There is a tradeoff. Mac OS ships with "zero ports open" as the article states. But my buddy who owns a very sexy new Mac has been completely unable to get a wireless card to work with it. Sure he is no expert but Windows is not shipped to the experts! Most of its users are below average joe's trying to figure out how to check their emails. So there has been a design choice made to sacrifice some security over ease of use to make the "default" installation suitable for the widest possible range of end users.

The recent Netsky blast utilized a security hole that Microsoft had patched more than 2 weeks before! Now that's excellent service from Microsoft if you ask me.

I am ashamed to admit it but my Linux workstation at UCLA was compromised a couple of years ago and even to this day I don't know how that bastard got in.