Re: [orca-list] Fwd: Re: [Support] autoinstall of talking arch

[Todor Fassl <fassl tod gmail com>]

No, linux is less prone to viruses because almost everything you install 
is from an official repository. It would be difficult to get a virus 
into an official repository. Even if you did, you'd only do it once 
because you'd be blackballed as a developer for forever. And the source 
code is there for everyone to see.

As far as I know, no one has ever gotten a virus into a package from an 
official repository for any major distro. I've been watching security 
email lists and newsletters for years for something like that and I've 
never seen it.


What a hacker could do is to include a program compiled for linux as an 
email attachment. You could run it by double clicking on it but it 
couldn't change systems files unless you ran it via sudo and entered 
your password. You could probably write a program that first asked for 
your password and then forked itself and infected your system. That'd be 
rather obvious though.


On 02/16/2015 01:12 PM, Josh K wrote:
> but if everybody ran linux all of a sudden wouldn't the virus makers 
> then target linux just like they target windows now? and if they put 
> an all out viral assault on linux wouldn't linux cave like windows 
> does often?
>
> follow me on twitter @joshknnd1982
>
> On 2/16/2015 1:32 PM, Kyle wrote:
> > With things like viruses, compromises of personal data and other things
> > we hear about in the news every day, I could never recommend running
> > Windows in an office setting either. Fact is that Windows was initially
> > designed for gamers and children, whereas Linux and other Unix-like
> > operating systems have been designed with business in mind, and have
> > only recently, say within the last 10 to 12 years or so, gotten to the
> > point where more casual home users can feel comfortable using it. No
> > marketing hype in the world will change my perception of Windows as a
> > toy and nothing more, especially when I can't watch the news without
> > seeing yet another infected ATM, credit card machine or other bank or
> > store related terminal that never should have been running Windows in
> > the first place, but has been compromised because it does, and an old
> > version at that. So yeah, I'm for Linux or BSD all the way, and Linux is
> > the most polished OS I've been able to find that talks to me, unless
> > anyone has any pointers on how to get a *real* BSD (NOT MacOS) talking,
> > in which case, I'm all ears. Man do I want me some BSD! But then again,
> > BSD just doesn't seem to have the hardware support or even the ease of
> > use that Linux now enjoys, so it will still require some shell knowledge
> > at this point, and I can't really recommend it to novice users the way I
> > have been able to get them turned on to the easier non-geek-oriented
> > Linux distros.
> > Sent from my coffee maker
>
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