Most people argue that windoze is more user-friendly than linux, and that's why they would rather use that (despite all the security vulnerabilities) than Linux. This claim is completely bogus.
Linux is already very user friendly, once it has been configged appropriately (THAT is not easy to do, but, frankly, you try configuring a really serious firewall or an ftp server in windoze, and see if you can sleep at night). What linux is NOT is that it is not idiot-proof. This explains why the bulk of windoze users are people who, uh, didn't really get Seinfeld. I just had a conversation with one such specimen who chided me for installing Debian on a departmental machine. He said that Linux was a waste of time and that if he wants better performance, he'd simply buy a newer more expensive computer. The reason why this makes him an prick is because he's a grad student who makes even less money than I do, and I'm starving! Ultimately, windoze users who are not gamers or specialized developers are not-too-bright yuppies who can't type two keys on the bloody keyboard. As far as I'm concerned, they can have their silly windoze with their silly wireless connections, which I'll hack with kismet and use their routers to surf the web and upload pictures from goatse.cx to their "My Documents" folders using a netbios-backdoor. In the final analysis, Windoze was designed at a time when Desktop security was not really an issue. It was built to be so "user friendly" that it eventually (with xp) became a combination of bloatware, malware and all-other-types-of-wares. Modification becomes difficult on windoze because of the proprietary code, and update-patches are usually ineffective. Linux, on the other hand, was designed to be inherently secure, with the firewall integrated into the kernel & all sorts of IDS's and powerful and safe (if properly configged & monitored) internet services available at beck-and-call.. Combine that with the rapid production of patches thanks to the open-source model, and you can't go wrong with a properly configged & patched Linux box wrt security. > > On Thu, 2005-02-10 at 11:24, William L. Jarrold wrote: > > Hi, > > > > When I see announcements like the below, I get really angry and I think > > (to myself) stuff like... > > > > (1) the security problem is that people use windows. > > > > (2) If everyone switched to unix/linux systems would be 99% (90%???, > > 99.9%???) more secure. > > > > (3) Windows has serious misfeatures and bugs related to security. > > > > (4) e.g. one such misfeature is that Winblows thinks that every file is a > > program to be executed. unix/linux, by contrast, implements the > > distinction between executable and non-executable files. > > > > ...I don't yell (or at least, try not to (-;) this to all my friends bc my > > understanding of these issues is primitive and quite likely wrong. Thus, > > trumpeted my views would risk being accused of "crying wolf." At the risk > > of starting a flame war I would love to hear people improve upon the > > above assertions. > > > > To the extent that some approximation of assertions 1 thru 4 are true, > > at least one person from this list should go to this meeting and as > > calmly as possible state/ask during the Q/A somethign to the effect of > > "just get rid of windows, adopt unix/linux and 99% of your problems will > > go away." > > > > Bill > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 10:33:10 -0600 > > From: Nancy Hatchett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: CS-Announcements: ; > > Subject: TACC and CS Seminar: Dr. Fred Chang/UTCS, 2/23 at 10:30 am, > > PRC Commons Room 1.122 > > > > > > TACC and CS Host Information Security Seminar > > > > > > > > Dr. Frederick R. Chang, Director/The Center for Information Assurance and > > Security/University of Texas > > > > February 23, 2005 at 10:30 am > > Pickle Research Campus/Commons Building Room 1.122, Small Auditorium > > > > Title: "Information Security: What You Need to Know Today" > > > > Abstract: > > Unfortunately, viruses, worms, spyware, denial of service attacks and > > computer > > network compromises, in general, have become a way of life. As a result, > > the > > industry has produced a blizzard of software and hardware tools to help > > protect > > our computers and networks from malicious attackers. Is the problem > > getting > > any better? This talk will provide some perspectives on the problems and > > challenges facing the industry today. Additionally, the talk will > > introduce > > UT's new Center for Information Assurance and Security and briefly describe > > its > > mission and objectives. > > > > About Frederick R. Chang and The Center for Information Assurance and > > Security: > > The Center for Information Assurance and Security (CIAS) was founded at The > > University of Texas at Austin to address the nation's growing cybersecurity > > problems. Primary center objectives are conducting research that will lead > > to > > innovative cybersecurity solutions and addressing the national need to > > produce > > more trained professionals in the field. The center will operate as a > > multi-disciplinary initiative involving business, government and academia. > > The > > university's CIAS team will include faculty, researchers and students from > > the > > Department of Computer Sciences, College of Engineering, McCombs School of > > Business and the Applied Research Laboratories. > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Analabha Roy Graduate Student > Department Of Physics, University of Texas, 1 University Station C1600, > Austin, Texas 78712-0264, United States emails: > [EMAIL PROTECTED], Home Page: http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~daneel > Get Firefox! > ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Analabha Roy Graduate Student Department Of Physics, University of Texas, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-0264, United States emails: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Home Page: http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~daneel Get Firefox! ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Siglinux mailing list [email protected] http://www.utacm.org:81/mailman/listinfo/siglinux
