I think maybe I should go into some detail here because clearly you aren't
seeing what I'm seeing.
It's just an observation remember. If you look at the statistics it's
something like 90% of computer users are infected. That's according the
"security industry". I'm not going to say this is an accurate statistic
although I do believe it isn't far off.
And as far as how this came to be. What do you think slows down most
Microsoft Windows systems? None of what I am saying is an exaggeration. You
might argue this isn't the fault of Microsoft though. I'd then disagree with
you though. It's Microsoft's design choices which have resulted in the
general populaces inability to maintain a clean system.
It's also the result of proprietary software. There is more sharing of code
on GNU/Linux and less bloat. If you stick a printer into a GNU/Linux system
it just works. It gets detected, added, and setup in an instant usually
(provided it is a properly supported free software compatible device). Try
and do the same thing in a Microsoft Windows environment and usually the user
has to install significant blot. Something that takes 5-10 seconds and is
done automatically without the users intervention takes 40 minutes on the
typical Microsoft Windows users system. If you don't believe me find a
Microsoft Windows user's system and a copy of an HP driver CD. Go and try it.
On average it takes 40 minutes. Now try and do this with a GNU/Linux system
like Trisquel. While it's not entirely due to the lack of sharing code it's
partially responsible.
I'm not talking about the people you interact with everyday either. Chances
are they are well educated and slightly better able to comprehend what is
going on. Any user on these forums is almost certainly going to be from a
different segment of society than the majority. Technical skills put you in
that segment. The majority though don't have that IT person to constantly
tell them these things. So even your parents/friends/relatives/colleges have
an advantage over the majority. They don't have someone updating the system
for them. There are dozens of applications which need to be updated on
Microsoft Windows which would be automatically updated on GNU/Linux (or there
would be one screen and one button to update all the core applications).
This is an desktop / OS design issue that is always overlooked by those
arguing GNU/Linux security. It's not the permission issue, root, etc which
makes GNU/Linux more resilient. I'm not going to tell you those aren't of
value. They are. It's just the ease of which it GNU/Linux systems are
updated, integrated, and share code makes them better suited for the casual
user.
This isn't to say there aren't other areas we need to improve on. There
are... I won't even go there because the list is very very long. This
community needs to coordinate more and work on developing business strategies
to fund development that are not as dependent on large corporations.
