Windows vs Linux On Security

e8johan writes "NewsFactor is running an article asking whether Linux really is more secure that Windows. I'd say that they miss to point out that Microsofts Office suite combined with VBA scripting makes Windows more insecure than anything I've ever seen, but they do make some good points, especially when discussing Open Source and security."

Comments

Re:spelling error!

[compwiz3688]

And I'm sure somebody would start making jokes about the weather on Linux is better than on Windows :)

"100% chance of BSoD today", anyone? :)

Re:Nice spin on the article

[Anonymous Coward]

The thing is, cathedrals are inherently more secure than bazaars. This is in no small part due to the people that frequent each place.

weather Linux

[Nighttime]

Is this a new Linux distro I haven't heard about? Is it Debian-based like Storm Linux was?

Windows vs Linux Programmers

[l33t j03]

Lets compare the people who actually write the code:

Windows Programmers
Well paid. Medium sized grayish cubicles with few restrictions on decorations. Laid back workplace.

Open Source Programmers
Live in basement of parents' home, browbeaten daily by overbearing mother, relentlessly degraded by father.

Windows Programmers
Married to a member of the opposite sex or enjoying a healthy dating life.

Open Source Programmers
Proposition other men in subway restrooms. Frequent 'glory holes'. Masturbate to Hentai porn.

WIndows Programmers
Nice cars.

Open Source Programmers
Bicycles.

Windows Programmers
Enjoy reading books, watching movies, and listening to music that all cover a wide variety of intellectually challenging subjects.

Open Source Programmers
Can't understand anything unless it deals with elves, or dwarves, or space creatures.

Windows Programmers
Secure in the knowledge that their work is contributing to increasing the productivity and happiness of workplaces and homes all over the counrty. Singularly responsible for ushering in the widespread use of personal computers for the masses.

Open Source Programmers
Waste their entire lives fighting in vain to bring down an imagined enemy by creating products that 99% of the computing public will pay to avoid having to use.

There you have it folks, a comprehensive comparison of the two camps.

Re:Security depends on many things.

[Anonymous Coward]

I know a couple MCSE guys that are "security experts". They think hackers use programs called "script kitties" to break into machines.

Meow!

Re:security

[mustangdavis]

Steps to make a system secure:

1. Unplug all cables (Ethernet, keyboard, mouse, usb, serial, parallel, and power)
2. Place system in lead crate, seal crate
3. Encase lead crate in cement
4. When dry, place crate at the botton of the Pacific Ocean
5. Loose coordinates of system location

The moral of the story: As long as the machine is plugged into the Internet (useful and user friendly), it is not secure!

Re:It's the user

[CavemanKiwi]

I can make my windows box VERY secure, just turn it off :)

Well, a lot of Linux developers are foreign

[typical geek]

so your Big National Laboratory has a point about trusting an operating system that's been put together by people who aren't American. Many are Europeans, who because they live in a socialist, pacifistic paradise are insensitive to the security needs of a government agency entrusted with keeping the world safe under the Pax Americana. Many Open Source developers are from third world countries like India, Taiwan and LapLand. Their standard of living is so poor, and Open Source pays so poorly, that they can easily be bribed by a handful of rupees or drachmas or pounds into including assembly language Trojan Horses that would fatally compromise the security of Linux.

I think your IT director is right, rely on an American Operating System, coded 100% by Americans, yes, we're talking Microsoft Windows 2000. Deep in their heart of hearts, Bill Gates, Staver Ballmore and Jim Allchin know that America is the best country for them to live in (if they lived in England, half their personally generated wealth would be taken away to buy heroin for junkies), and they will work hard to make a safe OS that willl ensure the American hegemony.

Linux is fine for a hobby, but I wouldn't trust my country with it.

Re: What timing!

[Black Parrot]

> Just last night, a buddy of mine did a security scan of the Linux box I use at home as a gateway for my other 4 computers.

That's nothing - complete strangers do security scans on all my boxes every night!

Re:4 out of 10 americans support annexing canada

[avgjoe62]

Does Canada have a secure OS?

Re:Nice spin on the article

[shish]

> That's because a service pack is basically the entire winnt directory's binary files all zipped up. It's almost the whole OS.

What, *every* binary in the winnt directory has bugs?

Re:Security depends on many things.

[kbielefe]

Once they gain control of a system, do they use it to launch a DOG attack?

LOL at the books

[Scooter]

That is so true...

Day 1 - a new Windows OS appears..
Day 2 - Large book with 1000 pages of screenshots entitled - "Windows xxx - the bleedin obvious" is published :)

Day 7 - "Instant Experts" return from MS certified class where they were taught 30 hours of "The Bleedin Obvious Admin 101" - how to fill out properties forms and click buttons. "Don't try to peek behind the curtain now - just click the buttons. To make the OS secure, for example, click the button marked "make my computer secure". No actual networks/computing/API etc knowledge required!, and certainly none imparted on this course!"