Re: Linux Vs Windows in security

Matthew Flaschen wrote:

Then, where is really the security ?

You're only considering two issues. Linux is more secure in other respects.

I remember the day the IBM PC was released; the day Windows 3.0
came out. I remember CP/M and MP/M in my first days of my career. Back
in those days you bought the hardware and asked around for software...it
was a lot like Linux is now: all about the job.

But these days the computer is a freakish appliance...one that
doesn't work, but we continually keep messing with it. Drivers that
don't work for empire-building reasons. Almost everyone has a Windows 98
box that stopped working and they just bought another. (It lives in the
attic now) It's never fast enough, and most of the mission questions are
all asked and answered by people 'behind a curtain' and the choices we
get to make are all after the fact...except Linux.

Don't forget that viruses, even spam are security holes. Entire
processes like email and browsing are presented to us with holes from
the factory that 'somehow' are already known before deployment. One
service pack closes a set of holes, and opens more for no verifyable
reason...other than it keeps Microsoft shops in business.

Did you realize that the current 'live' crop of viruses contains
over a million entries? More than 10,000 a month are added. This isn't
a handful of angry teens in Bolivia; this is an industry with a cashflow.

ActiveDirectory is a good example of their predatory technologies;
put that in, and, just because there's a gui for the database (because
they don't need to ask anyone, or make vendors agree on standards) they
just MAKE the standards by declaring it so...and once installed users
"must" have it and Linux has no comparable offering...making it that
much harder to convert them to Linux.

And let's not forget the BSA, and the $100,000 liability that
running Windows incurs. One employee blows the whistle and they could
be coming after you. In theory Windows Genuine Advantage(TM) is supposed
to take care of it, but isn't that just another stormtrooper tool?

And let's not forget the legacy of bankrupted hopefuls that made
the mistake of partnering with them...Sybase, Spyglass...and the 20
years of NOTHING happening in the industry because Microsoft is the
leader,and 'killer apps' get eaten by them...so no investment is
unavailable. So instead of fostering technology, it blocks it.

And it really bugs me that I started a ton of businesses with
Microsoft, and now they're stuck with it. They flush-n-fill every
workstation, every night because they can't be effective enough at virus
removal. And the way ahead in corporate America is moving to
virtualization where Windows can get even greater accomodation to do the
same job for which it was intended. There's so much work around a
mediocre project that makes demands of money, time, and frustration.

I guess what keeps me in Linux is that, when there's a problem,
it's a *genuine* problem...not another ploy to prop up a corporation.
We have problems, like everything, but we're working on'em. Our
programmers don't 'put in eight', but take a special pride in the work.
"you're not breaking my code" is the mindset.

There's no honesty in Windows. There's no support, either, unless
you have a a million-dollar contract, or think that a 900 number to
nowhere is support. You're committed to outside sources that may or may
not have your best interests in mind. Of the 10-20 such shops, only one
honest place exists in this town.

Linux gives us back our computers; we own them...shouldn't we make
all the decisions? Pointing to a single perceived weakness and claiming
we're the same is myopic.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Fahrländer Christian, Conservative, and Technomad
Evansville, IN http://Fahrlander.net/brian
ICQ: 5119262 AOL/Yahoo/GoogleTalk: WheelDweller
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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