Tero Pesonen wrote:
On Friday 08 February 2008, Sloan wrote:
Tero Pesonen wrote:
On Friday 08 February 2008, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Linux is safe when used intelligently. Intelligent use includes using secure passwords and applying security upgrades when they're made available. Intelligent use excludes running binaries or scripts supplied by unknown individuals.
If that's too complicated for someone, they shouldn't be using a computer at all.
So, are Windows XP or Vista not safe then when used intelligently?
IMHO using a microsoft operating system intelligently (is there an oxymoron here?) involves a number of additional restrictions and caveats, as well as extra costs, as compared to using linux intelligently, which is OTOH fairly straightforward.
Joe
I don't think running Windows XP on a desktop securely is rocket science. My parents have pulled off such a feat -- they've never had any security issues, and of the people I know, they are the least computer literate. My brother is now on OS X, but not because of security issues. He just wanted a better computer with a better OS than what his XP-powered Wintel box was.
Do they run as admin or user? Do they have any applications that force them to run as admin?
Maybe securing a desktop Linux system is easier. However, as long as it is not difficult as such on the other side, security is not a selling point. I've talked about security and Linux to Windows users. What they say is: I do not need "better" or "more" security, since security is a non-issue to begin with. If, on the other hand, OpenOffice or MS Office became magically easier to use once run on Linux, then they might become interested.
There are a lot of fundamental flaws in Windows, that create security risks. One is the way IE is tied into the kernel, so that a user app runs in kernel space. The sole reason for this, was so that Microsoft could force IE bundling, as IE was now part of the OS. This goes completely against good software engineering principles and means that problems with the browser become problems with the OS.
That's what I've gathered.
"Security" in Windows comes from patching a sieve. -- Use OpenOffice.org http://www.openoffice.org -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org