Obviously my old assessment of the Flash paradigm has become inaccurate. The last time I looked at flash, users of flash were insisting that it was the future of the web, that entire pages should be made in flash, and that us little HTML designers would soon be going the way of the dinosaur.
I guess, at least you, are of a different opinion, and in such a case my comparison isn't just inaccurate, but ignorant. So I understand your reply. I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from though. I want SVG because I wan't text on a path without a plug-in. Granted, most people access SVG documents on the web with Adobe's plug-in today, but I'm hoping that will change in the near future. After-all, mozilla is working on incorporating SVG support natively, and IE is losing market-share little by little...
Flash rules with on-screen presentations. I can't think of much better aside from video, and while they can be used for the same purpose, development costs of a professional video can far outweigh the development costs of a professional flash movie. Presentations aren't what I do, and neither are cartoons. But homestar is a great site.
(please don't get the impression that I think text on a path is the only benefit to SVG)
Thanks for telling me what ECMAscript is, I don't use javascript much and have been looking for the non-patented name for that language for almost a month now!
I was TOTALLY going to go for a matrix ending, I think it was...
Oh yeah, I was going to compare our current situation to "the anomolie," "the one," "neo," and how this anomalie was so different from its predecessors.
Upon re-analyzing it, though, I think Morpheous' speech in the cave would have been the most appropriate.
"I stand before you truthful, unafraid,
and why?
Is it because I believe in something you do not?
No.
It is because I remember.
I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me.
I am here because of the path that lies behind me.
But most of all, I remember that which matters most. We are still here!"
And now we dance, or have a LAN party, or something. I don't know. When we destroy SCO how the hell will we celebrate?
Much like me, he fails to be objective. Most FUD disregards the fact that open-source software is just a better fit in many places. Not ALL places by any means.
And the "hidden costs" of open source, that one really gets me.
What "hidden costs?!" I don't recall saying "here's your free software, and your free tech support, and your free customization labor, etc." I say "here's your free software." I don't see any other Linux zealots claiming that we provide anything BUT free software. Hidden costs my ass. In the over-used car analogy, if you win a new car, your friends aren't going to discourage you from accepting the prize citing the "hidden costs" of oil, tire, gas filter changes, and other maintenance... nor the "hidden costs" of putting in the AC and CD player that happen to be vacant in your prize-model car.
But back to your original point, I apologize for going off-topic. Writing perfect software is by-and-large impossible. I mean, it's a tall order just to write software that won't crash in a controlled hardware environment where you know all the I/O and will never have to worry about foreign hardware. On the desktop/server market the situation that is dynamic hardware will always gaurantee that nothing will work forever.
But that sort of nullifies your point about even free software authors being urged to release under an accelerated schedule. It's obvious we'll never get perfect code, so why delay until we do?
Even so, I find stable releases to be just that, stable. The GNU team didn't say that my version of GNOME was an impenatrable fortress, they said it was stable. And it is stable. I've not observed one error coming from GNOME ever since I installed this system. And my girlfriend, she hasn't observed an error at ALL. But I know if I go mucking about, or if I don't update, or otherwise maintain my system correctly it will break. Just like a car, desktop OSes can expect wear and tear.
What's ECMAScript? That replace SMIL in your alchemy?
I'm with you though, I can't wait for the revolution that will be SVG and its kin. A lot of people think it only competes with Flash... But those are the people that haven't read the spec, I'm assuming you have so you must know that what the W3C has been cooking up FAR surpasses Flash. =)
And I'm a GNOME whore... that also happens to be a web designer.
Like it or not, the people behind the Linux Interfaces are no longer programmers. There's some very real, very talented, design coming out of the UI projects... KDE, GNOME, XFce, etc. are all learning... Learning not to just present their user with widgets, but learning how to make a program talk to its user. It's very enjoyable.
Well, from what I've been reading, these kinds of disparaging comparisons seem to be doing more good than harm. Remember what companies and foreign governments were experiencing when they switched to open-source? They were being bombarded with critcism, lies, and fantastic discounts on closed-source software. But they had looked at the facts, and decided open-source was the solution they desired. They had hardened themselves against this FUD, and went on in spite of it. So now we have a collection of organizations which rightly ignore such comments.
And this is what seems to be driving adoption now. It used to be a bunch of us zealots, fanboys, hackers, admins, the list goes on... It used to be these types making promise after promise about open source software. We knew its capabilities and we'd be damned if we didn't know a perfect fit for OSS when we saw one. It's not that way anymore. Now my manager's coming to me, and my co-workers. More and more often we find him consulting us about equivalent open-source software solutions to proprietary products he's considering purchasing. Thanks to our honesty (no, sir, I'm afraid we don't have anything to compete with Macromedia Flash... yet...), adoption is higher than ever.
I guess what I'm getting at is this: We've all seen this FUD before. It's old news, it's an old battle. They're bringing it up again. But this time isn't like the last time. It just FEELS like, this time, somethings different. Like they're losing... They're not losing their castle, but the little provinces on the edge of their kingdom. Open source is slowly encroaching on their land, and they know it. This minor FUD is nothing. These guys are pawns. The big counter-attacks we can look forward to are more things along the scale of SCO. Not just misrepresentation of the facts, but real major threats to users of open source software. True attempts to stab at the heart of our force....but I'm the ecclectic type that equates everything to battle, even though I'm just a 20 year old that's never seen war. So feel free to ignore me. Just my unobjective observation.
Seriously, RH got me all excited about Linux on the desktop, but now that I've used it for a while I'm just going to go to Debian testing when Sarge comes out (this december I hope).
And the smell of coffee does the same thing to me, but you don't hear me bitching about coffee drinkers being f'ing morons, or trying to "educate" them about health risks they already know about because they're f'ing coffee drinkers and a few hundred other concerned goodie-goodies have already talked to them about it.
But thanks for letting us know the smell of cigarettes offends your delicate nasal passages.
Seriously, the reviewer said the GBA can't do anything like argentum, graphics wise. However, I hear Final Fantasy Tactics has made its way on to the GBA... I'd be surprised if that couldn't compete with Argentum, given the screenshots.
Yeah... I was going to do that... with acid... had it growing in strawberries... but then I tried it and kinda... forgot how I did it... along with eight years of college...
We're masters in the realm of fiction. We've been destroying fictional weapons of mass destruction, and those that harbor them. We've been protecting the fictional freedom of our citizens with fictional security bills.
And in the information age, it really makes no difference whether you're writing fiction or fact, as long as you're writing, because that's information.
Hey, I'm glad we talked it over. Like many people, my first post is never my best (even if it gets the most attention). The posts I really look forward to are ones like these.
While we did have an argument, I value the time you and I both spent refining my (and possibly your?) opinion on the matter. Thanks to you I now have a clearer understanding of my own response.
There are good arguments, and there are bad arguments. I'd say we had a good argument. The best kind, in fact, where we both found out we agreed with each other after all...
I'd just like to thank you for spending this time discussing it. You kept your cool, even when I didn't, and presented yourself intelligently. Happy Halloween, and you take care as well.
I'll give you that. I clearly didn't communicate my point clearly. I'm suggesting that Linux harbors learning about security. It's more enticing to learn, it makes it more fun, interesting, rewarding, etc. Linux users gave me the push, linux itself, its man pages, its documentation, encouraged me to keep learning.
You're right that I'm not a helpless user, but at the same time I'm not a programmer. I have an idea of what's going on behind the scenes, but don't know whether my guess is good or not.
To better explain myself I'll refer to another part of your post:
The only difference I can see or infer from your description is that you took the time to learn security with Linux while with windows you did not.
To re-iterate, I'm alleging that willingness to learn security while working with linux wasn't the product of coincidence, but the product of design. It is my belief that Linux's Unix influence, the influence of its users, and programmers, that all of that focus on enterprise-level security and stability has leaked over into the user interface and created a UI that wants to teach its user how to deal with the very important issue of security.
As I've said repeatedly, I'm a designer. From my experience in design I've come to the conclusion that Linux's interface promotes security by making it, and information about it, more accessible. From a programming perspective, the cold hard facts, windows presents all the same options to the user that linux does (well most of them, *cough*RPC DCOM*cough*). When you step back from inputs and dialoges, and look at menu set up, icons... When you look at the environment, the design there are two very distinct experiences to be had, and Linux's is more secure, or rather, encourages security.
Seriously, I would consider FedEx a pretty honest and respectable company, that has been innovative in the parcel business since they went to being publically traded...
And they aren't trying to move into other markets, just playing in their own field very successfully.
Seriously, the kernel has taught me nothing. That was sort of my point. It wasn't the code that was making my OS more secure. When I approached the Windows world, I was handed a disk and said to click "OK" at every dialogue, and I'd soon be on my way to the 21st century. When I approached the Linux world it was described to me, something not unlike a roleplaying quest. At least that's how it was with Debian. First I had to retrieve a mystical tool (jigdo) which would assemble the energies (packets) of distant gods (ftps). I would then be able to forge my new weapon (iso) with which to slay the chaotic beast (x86) and bring peace unto the land (hd).
I wasn't told what to do, I was told how to do it. Every step of the way. That's the difference I'm referring to. Not so much the systems themselves, but rather the ambiance they've gathered about them.
Linux and Windows are both exceedingly friendly, but Windows wants to do things for me and Linux wants to do things with me. I'm more of a cooperation person so I like the Linux OS, Culture, Ambiance, etc. better.
The programs built upon the two operating systems tend to reflect this.
Remember, I'm a designer. Design speaks to me, not just the dialogue.
Oh-ho, feel like I'm on a talkshow. Pleasant. I'll try not to let you down.
How did you Linux teach you this while windows didn't?
Have you tried installing RedHat 9, Debian? It's very different from a windows install. Example:
Windows: Please create a user account.
Linux: Please create a user account, and a root account. The root has access to all privelages, while user accounts are restricted. This way, if programs used while logged into your user account are compromised, the entire system is not compromised.
Put Anaconda vs. Windows Installer side-by-side for each step and you'll see my point. Perhaps Anaconda suffers from other things the Windows Installer does not, but it does maintain a certain amount of security information. I don't think I've ever even seen any variation of the word "secure" in any Windows install, but you know us Linux Zealots, and our selective memory.
Also, if you are just a designer with a little scripting skills, where does belief that Linux has superior code comes from? From friends that tell you to believe that?
The scripting I was referring to was PHP. It's a C-like scripting language, and as such, does teach you
some things about programming. Nonetheless, I am a designer at heart, and approach many of Windows' shortcomings as a design problem. I know little about kernels and other aspects of an operating system that the end-user often does not touch. What I do interact with, in both operating systems, are the programs that interact with the kernel and other programs to facilitate the function of an operating system. While different pieces of Linux are difficult to get around at first, once I've completed the command, passed the argument, or whatever the fuck it is that some particular program asked me to do, it makes a whole lot more sense. Meanwhile in the Windows world, there's a great amount of power sacrificed for usability. While I can do something easily, I cannot extend my knowledge of that program into other tasks, that program handles one thing, and one thing only. Linux programs tend to play real nice together. While we're on the subject, no programmer, save those employed by microsoft, can objectively evaluate the code of Linux against the code of Windows. You, I, Linus Torvalds, we're all experiencing windows from the end-user perspective. Thus one gets a feel for the code by using the program. After seeing Windows programs make mistakes I have made (In my rudimentry understanding of programming) and seeing Linux, maybe, sometimes, once a month at most, fuck up and in ways that totally escape my understanding of programming, I come to the conclusion that Linux code is superior. Whether or not I'm in err will likely not be seen by you or I.
And there you have it. While I am, no doubt, influenced by the Linux bandwagon, I am also not completely at its mercy. I don't just throw my hands up in the air when a windows problem comes up, and I also don't believe Linux to consist of superior code just because my friends told me so. I have evaluated both operating systems with the flawed objectivity inherant to every man and decided Linux the winner. Deal with it.
Further, your analogy suffers from certain flaws. One being the fact that I have a choice with cars as much as I have a choice with operating systems. And again, believe it or not, there are some cars which make themselves more accessible to their driver than others. Some cars have very cramped engines that require special proprietary hardware to diagnose and correct. Other cars (usually older cars) have wide open engines, that allow for better diagnosing and correction by the less-educated driver. Without access to professionals to take care of problems for you, the older car is more desirable.
Much like Linux is more desirable if you intend to manage your own security.
Believe it or not, the average person doesn't learn auto mechanics. The average person takes their car to a mechanic, or replaces it, much like the average user does with windows, they either take it to a professional to get it fixed, or reinstall the operating system.
I'm not disagreeing with you, or trying to dampen your point.
You might be a college graduate, hell a professor when it comes to security. You might have an understanding of every open cryptic algorithm in use today. You just might have learning and experience which has engraved security processes onto your heart.
But then, there's the rest of us. I'm a simple web/graphics designer. I don't even know how to compile a program. The most complicated things I produce are script. In the technical arena my contributions are child's play. As a long-time windows user, I had no concept of security. It was accepted fact that I had to patch and run process sapping virus scanners to prevent what was inevitable anyways, the infection and subsequent re-install of my operating system.
In the last year, I switched to Linux. Debian, first, now RedHat 9.
It's Linux that taught me security. It's Linux that gave me a better understanding of how ports work, how services can be hijacked and used to tamper with your machine, how random programs can degrade my security, how running as root is like volunteering my machine to be a DOS attack zombie.
Linux isn't inherantly secure due to superior code (don't get me wrong though, I strongly believe Linux utilizes superior code). It's inherantly secure because it conditions its user to consider security. Debian and RedHat taught me where vulnerabilities can exist in my operating system, and how to account for them.
Thanks to Debian and RedHat, my Windows box is more secure as well.
I may not have the safest internet-connected box on the face of this earth, but I can rest assured I'm in the top 10% when I'm using my Linux-based operating systems.
Slashdot Mirror
Obviously my old assessment of the Flash paradigm has become inaccurate. The last time I looked at flash, users of flash were insisting that it was the future of the web, that entire pages should be made in flash, and that us little HTML designers would soon be going the way of the dinosaur.
I guess, at least you, are of a different opinion, and in such a case my comparison isn't just inaccurate, but ignorant. So I understand your reply. I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from though. I want SVG because I wan't text on a path without a plug-in. Granted, most people access SVG documents on the web with Adobe's plug-in today, but I'm hoping that will change in the near future. After-all, mozilla is working on incorporating SVG support natively, and IE is losing market-share little by little...
Flash rules with on-screen presentations. I can't think of much better aside from video, and while they can be used for the same purpose, development costs of a professional video can far outweigh the development costs of a professional flash movie. Presentations aren't what I do, and neither are cartoons. But homestar is a great site.
...Precisely.
Why are we arguing again?
I was TOTALLY going to go for a matrix ending, I think it was...
Oh yeah, I was going to compare our current situation to "the anomolie," "the one," "neo," and how this anomalie was so different from its predecessors.
Upon re-analyzing it, though, I think Morpheous' speech in the cave would have been the most appropriate.
"I stand before you truthful, unafraid,
and why?
Is it because I believe in something you do not?
No.
It is because I remember.
I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me.
I am here because of the path that lies behind me.
But most of all, I remember that which matters most.
We are still here!"
And now we dance, or have a LAN party, or something. I don't know. When we destroy SCO how the hell will we celebrate?
Much like me, he fails to be objective. Most FUD disregards the fact that open-source software is just a better fit in many places. Not ALL places by any means. And the "hidden costs" of open source, that one really gets me. What "hidden costs?!" I don't recall saying "here's your free software, and your free tech support, and your free customization labor, etc." I say "here's your free software." I don't see any other Linux zealots claiming that we provide anything BUT free software. Hidden costs my ass. In the over-used car analogy, if you win a new car, your friends aren't going to discourage you from accepting the prize citing the "hidden costs" of oil, tire, gas filter changes, and other maintenance... nor the "hidden costs" of putting in the AC and CD player that happen to be vacant in your prize-model car. But back to your original point, I apologize for going off-topic. Writing perfect software is by-and-large impossible. I mean, it's a tall order just to write software that won't crash in a controlled hardware environment where you know all the I/O and will never have to worry about foreign hardware. On the desktop/server market the situation that is dynamic hardware will always gaurantee that nothing will work forever. But that sort of nullifies your point about even free software authors being urged to release under an accelerated schedule. It's obvious we'll never get perfect code, so why delay until we do? Even so, I find stable releases to be just that, stable. The GNU team didn't say that my version of GNOME was an impenatrable fortress, they said it was stable. And it is stable. I've not observed one error coming from GNOME ever since I installed this system. And my girlfriend, she hasn't observed an error at ALL. But I know if I go mucking about, or if I don't update, or otherwise maintain my system correctly it will break. Just like a car, desktop OSes can expect wear and tear.
What's ECMAScript? That replace SMIL in your alchemy?
I'm with you though, I can't wait for the revolution that will be SVG and its kin. A lot of people think it only competes with Flash... But those are the people that haven't read the spec, I'm assuming you have so you must know that what the W3C has been cooking up FAR surpasses Flash. =)
And I'm a GNOME whore... that also happens to be a web designer.
Like it or not, the people behind the Linux Interfaces are no longer programmers. There's some very real, very talented, design coming out of the UI projects... KDE, GNOME, XFce, etc. are all learning... Learning not to just present their user with widgets, but learning how to make a program talk to its user. It's very enjoyable.
What? Where?
Well, from what I've been reading, these kinds of disparaging comparisons seem to be doing more good than harm. Remember what companies and foreign governments were experiencing when they switched to open-source? They were being bombarded with critcism, lies, and fantastic discounts on closed-source software. But they had looked at the facts, and decided open-source was the solution they desired. They had hardened themselves against this FUD, and went on in spite of it. So now we have a collection of organizations which rightly ignore such comments.
...but I'm the ecclectic type that equates everything to battle, even though I'm just a 20 year old that's never seen war. So feel free to ignore me. Just my unobjective observation.
And this is what seems to be driving adoption now. It used to be a bunch of us zealots, fanboys, hackers, admins, the list goes on... It used to be these types making promise after promise about open source software. We knew its capabilities and we'd be damned if we didn't know a perfect fit for OSS when we saw one. It's not that way anymore. Now my manager's coming to me, and my co-workers. More and more often we find him consulting us about equivalent open-source software solutions to proprietary products he's considering purchasing. Thanks to our honesty (no, sir, I'm afraid we don't have anything to compete with Macromedia Flash... yet...), adoption is higher than ever.
I guess what I'm getting at is this:
We've all seen this FUD before. It's old news, it's an old battle. They're bringing it up again. But this time isn't like the last time. It just FEELS like, this time, somethings different. Like they're losing... They're not losing their castle, but the little provinces on the edge of their kingdom. Open source is slowly encroaching on their land, and they know it. This minor FUD is nothing. These guys are pawns. The big counter-attacks we can look forward to are more things along the scale of SCO. Not just misrepresentation of the facts, but real major threats to users of open source software. True attempts to stab at the heart of our force.
Seriously, RH got me all excited about Linux on the desktop, but now that I've used it for a while I'm just going to go to Debian testing when Sarge comes out (this december I hope).
And the smell of coffee does the same thing to me, but you don't hear me bitching about coffee drinkers being f'ing morons, or trying to "educate" them about health risks they already know about because they're f'ing coffee drinkers and a few hundred other concerned goodie-goodies have already talked to them about it.
But thanks for letting us know the smell of cigarettes offends your delicate nasal passages.
I'll quite smoking as soon as you stop farting.
Seriously, the reviewer said the GBA can't do anything like argentum, graphics wise. However, I hear Final Fantasy Tactics has made its way on to the GBA... I'd be surprised if that couldn't compete with Argentum, given the screenshots.
Yeah... I was going to do that... with acid... had it growing in strawberries... but then I tried it and kinda... forgot how I did it... along with eight years of college...
In the humor department, telemarketers have actually saved lives.
We're masters in the realm of fiction. We've been destroying fictional weapons of mass destruction, and those that harbor them. We've been protecting the fictional freedom of our citizens with fictional security bills.
And in the information age, it really makes no difference whether you're writing fiction or fact, as long as you're writing, because that's information.
I've heard a lot of people complain about jigdo-lite. Maybe the windows version is easier than the gnu/linux version...
Debian
Name-Brand
Apt-Get
Hell-Yes
Real simple.
First, get jigdo-lite.
Download.
Join #debian on irc.freenode.net.
Profit, or something.
Hey, I'm glad we talked it over. Like many people, my first post is never my best (even if it gets the most attention). The posts I really look forward to are ones like these.
While we did have an argument, I value the time you and I both spent refining my (and possibly your?) opinion on the matter. Thanks to you I now have a clearer understanding of my own response.
There are good arguments, and there are bad arguments. I'd say we had a good argument. The best kind, in fact, where we both found out we agreed with each other after all...
I'd just like to thank you for spending this time discussing it. You kept your cool, even when I didn't, and presented yourself intelligently. Happy Halloween, and you take care as well.
I'll give you that. I clearly didn't communicate my point clearly. I'm suggesting that Linux harbors learning about security. It's more enticing to learn, it makes it more fun, interesting, rewarding, etc. Linux users gave me the push, linux itself, its man pages, its documentation, encouraged me to keep learning.
You're right that I'm not a helpless user, but at the same time I'm not a programmer. I have an idea of what's going on behind the scenes, but don't know whether my guess is good or not.
To better explain myself I'll refer to another part of your post:
To re-iterate, I'm alleging that willingness to learn security while working with linux wasn't the product of coincidence, but the product of design. It is my belief that Linux's Unix influence, the influence of its users, and programmers, that all of that focus on enterprise-level security and stability has leaked over into the user interface and created a UI that wants to teach its user how to deal with the very important issue of security.
As I've said repeatedly, I'm a designer. From my experience in design I've come to the conclusion that Linux's interface promotes security by making it, and information about it, more accessible. From a programming perspective, the cold hard facts, windows presents all the same options to the user that linux does (well most of them, *cough*RPC DCOM*cough*). When you step back from inputs and dialoges, and look at menu set up, icons... When you look at the environment, the design there are two very distinct experiences to be had, and Linux's is more secure, or rather, encourages security.
That's all I've been trying to get at.
Seriously, I would consider FedEx a pretty honest and respectable company, that has been innovative in the parcel business since they went to being publically traded...
And they aren't trying to move into other markets, just playing in their own field very successfully.
Seriously, the kernel has taught me nothing. That was sort of my point. It wasn't the code that was making my OS more secure. When I approached the Windows world, I was handed a disk and said to click "OK" at every dialogue, and I'd soon be on my way to the 21st century. When I approached the Linux world it was described to me, something not unlike a roleplaying quest. At least that's how it was with Debian. First I had to retrieve a mystical tool (jigdo) which would assemble the energies (packets) of distant gods (ftps). I would then be able to forge my new weapon (iso) with which to slay the chaotic beast (x86) and bring peace unto the land (hd).
I wasn't told what to do, I was told how to do it. Every step of the way. That's the difference I'm referring to. Not so much the systems themselves, but rather the ambiance they've gathered about them.
Linux and Windows are both exceedingly friendly, but Windows wants to do things for me and Linux wants to do things with me. I'm more of a cooperation person so I like the Linux OS, Culture, Ambiance, etc. better.
The programs built upon the two operating systems tend to reflect this.
Remember, I'm a designer. Design speaks to me, not just the dialogue.
Oh-ho, feel like I'm on a talkshow. Pleasant. I'll try not to let you down.
And there you have it. While I am, no doubt, influenced by the Linux bandwagon, I am also not completely at its mercy. I don't just throw my hands up in the air when a windows problem comes up, and I also don't believe Linux to consist of superior code just because my friends told me so. I have evaluated both operating systems with the flawed objectivity inherant to every man and decided Linux the winner. Deal with it.
Further, your analogy suffers from certain flaws. One being the fact that I have a choice with cars as much as I have a choice with operating systems. And again, believe it or not, there are some cars which make themselves more accessible to their driver than others. Some cars have very cramped engines that require special proprietary hardware to diagnose and correct. Other cars (usually older cars) have wide open engines, that allow for better diagnosing and correction by the less-educated driver. Without access to professionals to take care of problems for you, the older car is more desirable. Much like Linux is more desirable if you intend to manage your own security.
Believe it or not, the average person doesn't learn auto mechanics. The average person takes their car to a mechanic, or replaces it, much like the average user does with windows, they either take it to a professional to get it fixed, or reinstall the operating system.
I'm not disagreeing with you, or trying to dampen your point.
You might be a college graduate, hell a professor when it comes to security. You might have an understanding of every open cryptic algorithm in use today. You just might have learning and experience which has engraved security processes onto your heart.
But then, there's the rest of us. I'm a simple web/graphics designer. I don't even know how to compile a program. The most complicated things I produce are script. In the technical arena my contributions are child's play. As a long-time windows user, I had no concept of security. It was accepted fact that I had to patch and run process sapping virus scanners to prevent what was inevitable anyways, the infection and subsequent re-install of my operating system.
In the last year, I switched to Linux. Debian, first, now RedHat 9.
It's Linux that taught me security. It's Linux that gave me a better understanding of how ports work, how services can be hijacked and used to tamper with your machine, how random programs can degrade my security, how running as root is like volunteering my machine to be a DOS attack zombie.
Linux isn't inherantly secure due to superior code (don't get me wrong though, I strongly believe Linux utilizes superior code). It's inherantly secure because it conditions its user to consider security. Debian and RedHat taught me where vulnerabilities can exist in my operating system, and how to account for them.
Thanks to Debian and RedHat, my Windows box is more secure as well.
I may not have the safest internet-connected box on the face of this earth, but I can rest assured I'm in the top 10% when I'm using my Linux-based operating systems.