Linked by Amjith Ramanujam on Sat 19th Jul 2008 19:01 UTC, submitted by cypress
Linux and UNIX-like operating systems in general are regarded as being more secure for the common user, in contrast with operating systems that have "Windows" as part of their name. Why is that? When entering a dispute on the subject with a Windows user, the most common argument he tries to feed me is that Windows is more widespread, and therefore, more vulnerable. Apart from amusing myths like "Linux is only for servers" or "does it have a word processor?", the issue of Linux desktop security is still seriously misunderstood.
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Member since:
2006-01-16
It is quite the opposite. Linux Distributions ship with lots of userspace programs including a wide range of different genres, from office suite to games.
Most times measurements are made all bugs "in Fedora" are counted contrairy to all bugs "in Windows XY".
Secondly, this "everything is insecure, it only depends on your numbers" myth is what MS tried to tell the public with their advertising ("Windows is more secure") and their paid-for studies for years. With quite success: They knew nobody would buy their "Windows is more secure" shit. But by flooding the market with these claims, they achieved the "nobody knows what's more secure" claim to be accepted.
The truth is, it's right that number counting is not that relevant. Just look how Windows systems are set-up compared to Linux systems. How every Windows machine wastes ressources for virus scanning etc. and still you had these massive worms. People seem to be very fast at forgetting things in this industry. And then you look at the architectures of Unix systems and Windows systems. It's true that Windows got more secure in the latest years which is a very good thing and longly overdue. But still there are massive problems inherented by backwards compatibility. The Windows security model grew very complex compared to Unix/Linux. It's far more easier to find holes in a complex system which is full of intended (because of the backwards compatibility) corner cases etc.
Edited 2008-07-20 16:15 UTC