I suppose this is not really the right list for this question, but it is not really wrong either, because I am looking for an answer that is suitable for teachers and students---not advanced computer professionals like yourselves . . .
I have been studying this problem, and trying to understand what can be honestly said, ignoring all ideology. While it is clear that it is *much easier* to write viruses for Windows, it does not seem altogether *impossible* that it could be done for Linux, too. Unfortunately, "much easier" is not easy to quantify, and therefore open to dispute! Of course I would like to make a strong statement, but I also want to be truthful. Can anyone point me in the direction of well-formulated discussions of this problem? Up to now, the only formulation that I find reasonably satisfing is the following: Ask a Linux user when he or she last had a virus, and you will encounter only confusion: although security experts agree that Linux _could_ have viruses (in theory), in practice I have never met a Linux user who suffered from one. This seems a little weak, but at least it is honest. Many of the more detailed discussions are completely unusable. Thanks in advance, Conrad
