On Friday 28 March 2003 00:38, James Ogley wrote:
Actually, that's not why people say that Linux (and other Unices) are virus immune.
It's because unlike the braindead OSs from Redmond, you don't do everything with ultimate privileges (ie root)
Which user do you normally run as when you install programs?
Since noone in their right mind uses their system as root unless they need to, the risk from virus infection is minimal (since a viral binary run as a normal user cannot overwrite a system file)
True, but it could ruin and/or send off your personal files to god knows whom. If we're talking industrial espionage, that's all it would take. And of course you don't have to run as root to have your computer take part in a DDoS, or as an open relay anonymizer for spammers