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Linux Mint Hack Is an Indicator of a Larger Problem (techrepublic.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the problematic dept.

An anonymous reader writes: On February 20th, a hacker working under the handle 'Peace' took control of the website of Linux Mint, a popular Linux distribution derived from Ubuntu (and Debian) targeted toward non-technical users and power users unhappy with modern desktop environments. While these attacks are regrettable, and part of an infrastructure problem rather than a problem with the distribution itself, it increasingly appears that the Linux Mint team is spread too thin when it comes to security. The distribution itself blacklists updates that work perfectly in Ubuntu and Debian, and the graphical utilities don't update the kernel. Because the value added by Linux Mint is in Cinnamon, why do the developers need to distribute a broken version of Ubuntu when the Cinnamon DE could be distributed as an Ubuntu spin?

4 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. Re:That's it... by Lisandro · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm moving to Arch

    Good for you. Arch is not for newbie users as it lacks a tool to perform automated installs, but once it is up and running i'd venture to say is the most reliable, easiest to use distro out there.

  2. Re:"for non-technical users" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Non-technical users should use a Mac, as it simply works.

    I wish this was true so I wouldn't have to deal with so many support requests from Mac users.

  3. Re:"for non-technical users" by WarJolt · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Macs and PCs are pretty much interchangeable these days.

    Not really. Macs require a much more current IT staff. Unfortunately many IT departments have been force fed the Microsoft dribble for so long that they don't know what real IT looks like. Adding Macs to corporate infrastructure should be done carefully.

    It's not about the user or the OS. It's about the infrastructure behind it.

  4. Re:WhipslashPleaseGetRidOfSubjectsInComments by squiggleslash · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They wouldn't replace Unity with Cinnamon in the primary version of Ubuntu, but given they have no problems distributing versions of Ubuntu with KDE, GNOME 3, XFCE, LXDE, and even MATE (the other thing that came out of the Unity sucks movement), I don't see why they wouldn't do a Cinnamon version if there was a community willing to maintain it.

    --
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