Posted on 02/11/2009 5:56:40 AM PST by ShadowAce
The reason a linux virus isn’t going to be very effective, even if you find a good hack, is because most linux users send and receive most of their communications to and from non-linux systems. Windows viruses spread so readily because anyone with a windows system is communicating constantly and frequently with many other windows systems.
It appears the writer is a Python programmer.
Yes, all systems are vulnerable to attacks.
Yes, the more GUI driven a system is, the more user friendly, the less secure it is.
Now, Diversity of Graphic User Interphases in the Linux environment gives some security through obscurity.
I particularly like XFCE GUI myself.
Am I a hardened target, NO. I have not found it necessary to go of the edge for what I use a PC for.
I use a Window box every day for work, but prefer my Linux box for personal use. On occasions I find things I cannot do on my Windows machine and resort to using Linux tools to accomplish. Conversely, there are 2 applications that I use daily that prevent me from using Linux full time. Quark and a CAD program. If I found substitutes for those I think I would not use Windows at all.
I have been a happy Linux user for over 10 years, and I am an old fart, 61.
We need a more equitable market share of multiple OSes out there to minimize any effects of any malware.
I also like xfce. I like the fact that it is lightweight, and fast.
Quark and a CAD program. If I found substitutes for those I think I would not use Windows at all.
That the reason I run a VM. Not those two programs, but, like you, there are a couple of things that won't quite run under Linux yet.
Nice post thanks.
Flame bait written by a moron who doesn’t know what a virus is.
Especially if the user is experiencing ID-10-T issues.
Unfortunately that is contrary to human nature though. Most people choose Windows precisely because it’s what everyone else uses.
The warning is appreciated, but no one on my email list runs Linux, so even if I was fooled by such an email (unlikely, but you never know) I’d be a sort of genetic deadend for such a ‘virus’.
That said, I often check with family or friends who send me unexpected attachments before opening them.
Have never run VM but years ago ran DOS emulators. That was not so useful.
I have looked at Scribus as a replacement for Quark, it is scriptable in Python. I currently use Quark and Xdata to publish a 3000 page (plus indexes) distribution catalog, we have recently considered a database driven catalog approach. That is not in place yet.
Even in the Windows environment I use a lot of Open Source Apps. daily. Firefox (almost never use IE), Gimp (prefer it to Photoshop because it is not so resource intensive), Gnumeric (when I need to do regular expression replacements in a spreadsheet), Notepad++ (favorite windows editor), a bulk rename utility, Image Magick (to batch process images for the website), and Scribus when I need to create a .pdf from a image file. There are others I use, but those are the ones I use almost daily.
Best regards,
Texas Fossil
Keep in mind, that this is not the main reason why Linux boxes do not get virii, but it is a factor.
Have you tried Crossover Linux or Wine for these 2 apps?
Possibly, but in my experience viruses are a smaller threat than “slime ware”. Bad PC user choices about what they install or download leaves them vulnerable to this.
I have done lots of cleanups on systems that were covered with this nonsense.
I knew there was something else to like about you... codgerspace belongs to old farts like us... /grin
Good to hear from you again, also.
...
Then I discovered Virtualbox, and that ended the need for a separate computer (or partition) to run windows. I could run Autocad in a virtual window.
Recently, though, I've been using Qcad, a simple cross-platform cad program. It's simple to use, and since I'm not a power user (just use it for wiring diagrams and simple layouts), it does everything I need. It's not free, but pretty cheap...one of the very few programs that I've purchased.
Thanks for suggestion of Qcad, looked at it several years ago. It was a little foreign in commands, and at the time was free. I think they have 2 versions now, or the last time I looked at it.
What I use is for is not that complicated. Retail store layouts. I planned stores full time for over 5 years, but about 9 years ago I stopped doing that. Unfortunately people I know still remember that I can do that, and I get an occassional request at work to draw one. This morning I am finishing one for a store in NM.
Worst part of that process is unless I actually do the measurements of the building there are always surprises. Even if architects send me the plans, they are seldom “right”. Could tell you lots of War stories about that. It never ceases to amaze me how difficult some people make setting store fixtures, if you know what you are doing and plan properly is is effortless. If not, it is a total train wreck.
Similar to the Total Train Wreck we are witnessing in DC.
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