Linux Vs Vista : How Does Security Stack Up ?

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However, some computer security experts contend that Windows Vista
offers little to make computing more secure. They suggest that rather
than wait for a half-baked new Windows operating system, consumer and
enterprise users would have far better security with Linux.



..
Let me explain Linux security, as a ubuntu user.

1- I went to the applications menu, I selected add/remove, I got a
huge list of programs. I picked one, I hit install.

It asked me for my user id and password for performing an adminstrator
task , then it installed the program.

If I'm a system administrator , and I don't want my users installing
software , guess what password I DON'T give them ?

Then there's the chmod utility (Change Mode)

If you dump a file on a linux machine, it automatically gets an owner
, and it gets read write privilidges. That means someone owns it
(typically the user logged in at the moment who dumped it in there)
and it can be read and written to.

Execution privilidges, the privilidge to be run as a program , are not
granted by default. The user must manualy go in and use the chmod
utility to grant the file execution rights.

So , for example (this happened to me on windows) the browser (it was
internet explorer of course) goes to a web page, and without so much
as a by your leave or a say so , downloads an executable program and
runs it. On windows, if you're lucky , your fire wall catches it
trying to access the internet , and you start screaming "where did
this file1.exe program come from ? And why is it sitting in the
internet temporary files folder ? " At which point you swear off ever using the internet explorer again , because while your firewall caught it red handed, it self erased after it did it's little deed.

On Linux, such a downloaded file doesn't have execution privilidges.
It cannot run , unless you open up a terminal window and use the chmod command to give it execution privilidges.

Ok , lets talk about a virus on linux. First off, how do you catch a virus ?

Someone inserts a floppy and runs a program.
- sorry , you're not a system administrator. Not allowed to install new programs. Not allowed to run anything but programs already existing on the disk.

Someone emails you a cool program and demands you run it.
- sorry , but the chmod command acts as a filter to stop that. Either you're technically savvy and therefore quite suspicious when someone says "run this program now " and thus you know better, or you're technologically illiterate in which case you havn't a clue as to the existance of the chmod command and you won\'t be able to do it without calling a system administrator, who's first words are going to be "thats a virus. don't run it"

How does security stack up on linux vs windows ?

With no virus scanner , you must be the system administrator , and you must be blind stinking drunk and deliberately looking for trouble , before you can catch a virus in Linux.

With full fire walls and virus scanners and spam protection and what not , on windows , you have to click on one email sent by a friend that says "look at this cool site I found !" and you've just infected the entire office network.(assuming it's all windows)