Also "there is no _one_ Linux anymore" (You have
Windows XP)
"...15 major releases (distros) and many of them don't
work with each other.."
This is actually a good thing.
The reason why social engineering is easier in the Windows world is
also an illustration of the dangers inherent in any monoculture,
whether biological or technological. In the same way that genetic
diversity in a population of living creatures is desirable because it
reduces the likelihood that an illness - like a virus - will utterly
wipe out every animal or plant, diversity in computing environments
helps to protect the users of those devices.
Linux runs on many architectures, not just Intel, and there are many
versions of Linux, many packaging systems, and many shells. But most
obvious to the end user, Linux mail clients and address books are far
from standardized. KMail, Mozilla Mail, Evolution, pine, mutt,
emacs ... the list goes on. It's simply not like the Windows world,
in which Microsoft's email programs - Outlook and Outlook Express -
dominate. In the Windows world, a virus writer knows how the
monoculture operates, so he can target his virus, secure in the
knowledge that millions of systems have the same vulnerability. A
virus targeted to a specific vulnerability in Evolution, on the other
hand, might affect some people, but not everyone using Linux. The
growth of the Microsoft monoculture in computing is a dangerous thing
for users of Microsoft products, but also for all computing users,
who suffer the consequences of disasters in that environment, such as
wasted network resources, dangers to national security, and lost
productivity
The content above is an extract from the article on this website
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10/06/linux_vs_windows_viruses/
To understand the dangers of a monoculture read this document.
http://www.ccianet.org/papers/cyberinsecurity.pdf
Regards
Rishi
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http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
