On Thu, Oct 20, 2005 at 03:36:47PM +1300, Chris Bannister wrote: > I used to think that as well. Apparently most distributions are not > secure *out of the box*. It takes more work/skill to secure Linux than > it does to secure Windows XP. Hence there are probably more secure XP > installations out there than Linux boxes. Viruses and spyware are > another matter.
I can install debian 3.1 on a system and have it connected to the internet while doing it, and I won't be worried at all doing it. Do that with XP while downloading service packs and hotfixes, and most likely the system has spyware/worms/viruses/othermalware on it before you have the service packs installed. That is unless you have a router/firewall between the XP machine and the internet. > That is my understanding. Of course I may be wrong, but it is probably > the best way to lean. :-) Debian by default has just about no services running, especially not listnening to external interfaces. That alone makes it way more secure than windows. It also doesn't make it easiest to run as administrator for most of your work, but rather tries quite hard to discourage using root. Len Sorensen -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]