> | YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE UNIX VIRUS! Since Unix/Linux is
> Regards, | immune to the viruses which plague the Windows world,
> . | this virus is distributed on the honor system. Please
> Randy | mail this virus to everyone you know and then delete a
> | bunch of your files at random. Thanks for cooperating!
Since Gnu/Linux is in fact not "immune" to viruses/worms,
that message in your signature is incorrect; trying to be
a Gnu/Linux advocate while making substantially incorrect
statements about it is likely to be self-defeating in the
long run. Th two primary advantages of Gnu/Linux in the
matter of viruses/worms are:
- The Gnu/Linux kernel/libraries/applications are (for
the most part) distributed on an Open Source basis;
algorithms and data structures are examined by many eyes
and vulnerabilities are more likely to be identified and
corrected under such circumstances than when only one or
a few developers are inspecting the software, such as is
usually the case in a proprietary development environment.
- When vulnerabilities are discovered, they are often fixed
in a matter of hours or days, rather than the weeks or
months (or years, or never!) typical of proprietary software.
And it must be said: part of the reason we've gotten relatively
little attention from The Bad Guys is that M$ software is
so brittle and so widely distributed that those who seek to
cause harm get much more mayhem in return for their efforts
than they would if they targetted Gnu/Linux systems. In other
words, we benefit to some degree simply from the fact that M$
is still so dominant. If Gnu/Linux becomes truly successful,
we can expect The Bad Guys to turn their attentions on us,
and life could then get interesting (especially if *VPLs like
VBscript or M$Word-macros get ported to Gnu/Linux, but that's
a different rant...)
*VPL == Virus Propagation Language
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