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When Does Usability Become a Liability?

Posted by Cliff on from the stuff-to-discuss dept.

nasteric asks: "I caught myself in the middle of a very interesting discussion last Friday over Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee. The discussion had to do with usability and security. Many of the Microsoft Administrators I work with argued the more user friendly Linux becomes, the more vulnerable it becomes. They claimed making Linux a friend of Joe User will require it to 'open itself up' and become more susceptible to attack. Needless to say, this became an endless debate between our Microsoft Administrators and our Linux/Unix Administrators that will undoubtedly continue into the morning. Therefore I pose this question to the Slashdot community. Will making Linux more user friendly result in it becoming less secure? Hopefully your expertise will help shed some light on (and bring to and end) our discussion." Does decent usability necessarily imply the presence of vulnerabilities? Macs seem to have this area down pretty well, with little in the way of vulnerabilities. Can Linux software follow the same route?

5 of 930 comments (clear)

  1. Re:No wonder... by Professr3 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I believe I saw you posting on Slashdot Friday night... need I say more?

  2. coffee and donuts by fermion · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    I cought myself in the middle of a very interesting discussion last Friday over Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee

    I like the little cups of strong coffee. Could never understand the appeal of Krispy Kreme doughnuts though. I am lucky enough to have a local place which knows that a doughnut is supposed to be light and fluffy. The more sugar the better.

    I suppose the security issue comes from insufficient caffiene and sugar. All these people on low carb diets have no idea what they are doing to thier minds.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
  3. Re:Using Security by leperkuhn · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Usability doesn't mean "avoids security." It means the interface is easy to use.

    I agree with you, and here's my example. A button on the desktop that says "Turn Firewall On". Easy to use, makes computer more secure.

    --
    http://www.rustyrazorblade.com
  4. Re:LINDOWS DOES NOT RUN AS ROOT! by Jane_Dozey · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Shhhhh!
    I'm trying to read.

    --
    Silly rabbit
  5. OT: karma by Rufus88 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Sorry for the off-topic slashdot-posting-meta-post, but...

    Is there a cap on the amount of karma you can earn in a reply to your own post? I'm not trolling, and I don't want to sound accusatory, but if I wanted to earn some points toward meta-modding and the posting bonus point, Why wouldn't I introduce some trivial error into a post and then issue a follow-up correction that also gets modded up?