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.
Your parents are lucky. In Iraq, we had XP machines on a Department of Defence SECURE NETWORK which was completely cut off from the rest of the internet, and they STILL caught viruses.
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.
Money? Well some one who buys a branded PC typically already pays for security apps etc. which bring added costs. Putting Linux on that hardware at home won't make the money they already paid for the Windows OS and Norton etc. stuff to be returned. Windows machines are now so cheap that money seems no longer to be a motivator that would work in favour of "Linux at home." Even computer magazines no longer write about Linux being free. It seems irrelevant. They write about Linux as an equal "choice" on the desktop, and not as something that is geeky yet free. (as they used to.)
We need to break the back of the mandatory bundling of Windows. Personally, I think computers sold retail should be have line-item costs, with Windows as a separate cost from the hardware. It's just like payroll taxes deducted out of the paycheck -- what people don't have to explicitly fork over extra money for, they soon forget (if they were ever aware of it in the first place). -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org