John B Pace wrote:
So, it is like it used to be, Carlos? Really no need for antivirus software? Interesting that the windows machines are being protected from themselve. I assume some distros must be weaker than others? Or why would clamav or antivir (Avira GmbH) been created. I'm probably sticking my foot in my mouth or worse my head where the sun doesn't bother shining, but I'm really curious as to clamav and antivir. You don't have to answer this if you don't want, Carlos. I can check it out! Thanks! John
No, it has nothing to do with distro's, though some are better than others. It's the whole design of the system. Linux, like Unix was designed to be multiuser and also network aware. As a result, it has proper security methods. On the other hand, Windows evolved in a single user, stand alone world, where security is not much of an issue. Further, Microsoft has done some incredibly stupid things, such as tying Internet Explorer to the kernel. This means a browser problem becomes an operating system problem and leaves the door wide open for malware. Incidentally, this was done as the result of a law suit. They were sued by Netscape over bundling of IE with Windows. MS said that was necessary, as IE was part of the OS. At that time it wasn't. IE was simply another app, like Netscape. However, with the next verion of Windows (W98 IIRC), IE was indeed intertwined with the OS. Other reasons include the fact that something is not an executable, unless explicitly made so. This means that if you get a virus in your email, you have to save it to disk, make it executable and then run it. It will not run automatically. The list of reasons continues... -- Use OpenOffice.org http://www.openoffice.org -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org