Why is Linux considered to be safer then Windows??

[babadoctor]

Just now, SCHISCHKA said:

thats not how it works. look up CVE and router or ADLS and you will see examples

like look at a problem i have every day

leave port 22 open on my router 

ssh into computer

want to add a port to router with no remote accessibility

how to edit router using terminal?

NOT GONNA WORK BUSTER

[SCHISCHKA]

2 minutes ago, babadoctor said:

like look at a problem i have every day

leave port 22 open on my router 

ssh into computer

want to add a port to router with no remote accessibility

how to edit router using terminal?

NOT GONNA WORK BUSTER

i want to give you a stack of networking text books but i cant. youre going to have to do your own research on this one

[Guest]

Just a Windows user passing through. I personally have yet to receive any kind of significant piece of malware or virus since I first built my system back in 2006. I run an anti-virus and an anti-malware piece of software, but they have yet to actually detect something worthwhile. Some junk every now and then from an accidental click or download, but overall nothing that would even come close to crippling my system. It seems rather difficult nowadays to get a virus. I don't know why I commented on a Linux thread, just felt like throwing that out there.

[Dat Guy]

7 hours ago, dave4shmups said:

What is it about Linux that makes it safer?

Linux is not safer than Windows.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

6 hours ago, Stylized_Violence said:

Just a Windows user passing through.

Welcome to the dark side ...

 

6 hours ago, Stylized_Violence said:

I personally have yet to receive any kind of significant piece of malware or virus since I first built my system back in 2006. I run an anti-virus and an anti-malware piece of software, but they have yet to actually detect something worthwhile. Some junk every now and then from an accidental click or download, but overall nothing that would even come close to crippling my system. It seems rather difficult nowadays to get a virus. I don't know why I commented on a Linux thread, just felt like throwing that out there.

Same here, I haven't had any infections on either of my Windows machines.  Then again I have to clean out other people's barely-running infected systems on a regular basis, often having to fight their antivirus in the process. 

Good browsing habits, common sense and adblockers do more to keep you safe than all the antivirus programs in the world combined. 

[nobiggieBIG]

10 hours ago, Mooshi said:

Yes, but most average users on the desktop side of things uses a Windows desktop or laptop more than Linux based OS and that's what most of the nasties on the internet target. 

Linux also wont start installing an application without root, and it can only attack the user account not the whole system.

[babadoctor]

On 3/2/2017 at 8:36 PM, SCHISCHKA said:

i want to give you a stack of networking text books but i cant. youre going to have to do your own research on this one

can i have the names of those networking textbooks

i will find the pdf and read them

[dave4shmups]

On 3/3/2017 at 4:33 AM, Captain Chaos said:

Welcome to the dark side ...

 

Same here, I haven't had any infections on either of my Windows machines.  Then again I have to clean out other people's barely-running infected systems on a regular basis, often having to fight their antivirus in the process. 

Good browsing habits, common sense and adblockers do more to keep you safe than all the antivirus programs in the world combined. 

I've heard that you can get by without any antivirus program on your PC as long as you stick to those tips.  I didn't know that Linux runs in cars, but (off-topic) I don't know what types of computers are used in cars.

[SCHISCHKA]

On 3/03/2017 at 6:12 PM, Stylized_Violence said:

Just a Windows user passing through. I personally have yet to receive any kind of significant piece of malware or virus since I first built my system back in 2006. I run an anti-virus and an anti-malware piece of software, but they have yet to actually detect something worthwhile. Some junk every now and then from an accidental click or download, but overall nothing that would even come close to crippling my system. It seems rather difficult nowadays to get a virus. I don't know why I commented on a Linux thread, just felt like throwing that out there.

its true windows has come a long way and MS has learnt from their experience. Criticism of previous systems get fixed with newer ones but it still has flaws with its lack of privacy, lack of end user control. this is just my opinion but I think the open source development style leads to a better product due to anyone being able to audit the code. It doesnt work out financially for every project but for operating systems, device drivers and hardware in general it is the only real competition to MS monopoly and picks up where MS fails

2 hours ago, babadoctor said:

can i have the names of those networking textbooks

i will find the pdf and read them

its hard to think of where to start thats why i said a stack of books. have a look at MIT open courseware on youtube. its 3 years old now but most of it should be still relevant

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mit+opencourseware+network+security

44 minutes ago, dave4shmups said:

I've heard that you can get by without any antivirus program on your PC as long as you stick to those tips.  I didn't know that Linux runs in cars, but (off-topic) I don't know what types of computers are used in cars.

Japanese manufacturers like to use their own proprietary software. BMW retracted their plans to use android. I dont know about other EU or USA cars. Common GPS systems use linux but some older ones use Windows CE. Windows 7 embedded and phone products were too slow in the embedded market.

 

 

[dave4shmups]

15 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

its true windows has come a long way and MS has learnt from their experience. Criticism of previous systems get fixed with newer ones but it still has flaws with its lack of privacy, lack of end user control. this is just my opinion but I think the open source development style leads to a better product due to anyone being able to audit the code. It doesnt work out financially for every project but for operating systems, device drivers and hardware in general it is the only real competition to MS monopoly and picks up where MS fails

its hard to think of where to start thats why i said a stack of books. have a look at MIT open courseware on youtube. its 3 years old now but most of it should be still relevant

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mit+opencourseware+network+security

Japanese manufacturers like to use their own proprietary software. BMW retracted their plans to use android. I dont know about other EU or USA cars. Common GPS systems use linux but some older ones use Windows CE. Windows 7 embedded and phone products were too slow in the embedded market.

 

 

Would I have to run adblocker on every single site that I get on?  Other then a few forums like this one, I pretty much stick to checking my email, getting on Facebook and YouTube, and reading Google News.  Also, what does it mean that all iPhone apps are "sandboxed"?  I've never heard that term before.

[SCHISCHKA]

6 hours ago, dave4shmups said:

Also, what does it mean that all iPhone apps are "sandboxed"?  I've never heard that term before.

i dont know who said sandboxes was it me? each app is restricted to only able to access assigned files and memory so it cant interfere with other apps or system. its a fairly old concept and each OS has a variation on it

[SpaceNugget]

On 02/03/2017 at 8:24 PM, babadoctor said:

like look at a problem i have every day

leave port 22 open on my router 

ssh into computer

want to add a port to router with no remote accessibility

how to edit router using terminal?

NOT GONNA WORK BUSTER

If you can point a browser at it, you can get to it with ssh.  through port tunneling or simply using curl commands from the computer you are ssh'ed into.

 

Here is a simple guide on how to fix your problem from my school.

 

http://www.uvic.ca/engineering/ece/faculty-and-staff/home/computing/port-forwarding/index.php

[nobiggieBIG]

23 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

i dont know who said sandboxes was it me? each app is restricted to only able to access assigned files and memory so it cant interfere with other apps or system. its a fairly old concept and each OS has a variation on it

It was me, and yes, that is exactly what it is

[robertpartridge]

On 3/2/2017 at 11:24 PM, babadoctor said:

like look at a problem i have every day

leave port 22 open on my router 

ssh into computer

want to add a port to router with no remote accessibility

how to edit router using terminal?

NOT GONNA WORK BUSTER

Leaving only port 22 open, you can setup a tunnel through port 22 for VNC to remote into your desktop and then be able to access your router from the inside.

[babadoctor]

40 minutes ago, robertpartridge said:

Leaving only port 22 open, you can setup a tunnel through port 22 for VNC to remote into your desktop and then be able to access your router from the inside.

i actually tried that a couple weeks ago

it doesnt work; i even set vncserver to start in 50 seconds after i had closed the ssh connection; the connections interfered with each other

anyways, I SAID NO VNC

[robertpartridge]

1 minute ago, babadoctor said:

i actually tried that a couple weeks ago

it doesnt work; i even set vncserver to start in 50 seconds after i had closed the ssh connection; the connections interfered with each other

anyways, I SAID NO VNC

It does work.  I've done it with a Chromebook no less.

https://robpartridge.blogspot.com/2014/04/chromebook-to-linux-vnc-via-ssh-port.html

 

If you're going to hamper yourself from accomplishing a task by limiting your choice of tools then you're just not going to get done what you want to get done.

[Fourthdwarf]

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread, but here is a rundown of why linux seems to be safer:

 

- Anyone can fix it. If you can get past a reasonably competent linux user, theres a good chance you've used some security flaw in the system. If this becomes known, it'll get patched on linux within a few days, usually. Attacks are more targeted as a result. If you can't use a vulnerability for more than a few days, you need to know where you're going to attack, otherwise you are wasting an opportunity as an attacker.

 

- Package management keeps libraries up to date. On windows, software will usually ship with its own copy of needed libraries ('dlls'). As a result, if a vulnerability is found in SecureLibrary.dll, each program using it will need to update it. Package managers (and Steam, iirc) used to install software also install shared libraries, and keep them up to date. This means that as soon as the update is available, every program on the system uses the new library.

 

- Package management helps prevent man in the middle attacks. On windows, you have to go on the web and download a .exe file. If someone replaces the site, and serves you there own .exe, it could be loaded with all sorts of nasties. Package managers, assuming you have a clean operating system to start with, usually have a verification system, only allowing packages signed by certain keys. For example on Arch linux, package maintainers have to sign packages with their key, which has to be itself signed by at least 3 of 6 master keys. As a result, it is very difficult to replace their package with yours, and just as difficult to add your key to their system.

 

- An awful lot of linux stuff is replaceable. A destructive virus or ransomware don't really make sense on linux, as the system is often an embedded device than can be switched out easily, or a server with good backups. Either way, the system can be replaced or repaired in a matter of hours, certainly quicker than most ransomware give you to pay up. As a result, ransomware tends to go for windows machines.

 

- The users tend to be more competent. (Almost) no linux user would believe the 'microsoft technical support' scams, so nobody bothers. Most likely a larger proportion of linux users use ad blockers, or javascript blockers, or other browser addons/features that help prevent malicious adverts and sites from running. And now that docker is a thing, more and more people put untrusted code into containers, just in case it does something bad.

[AlexHouse]

I alwats thought Linux was the most secure OS available but after reading https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/08/wikileaks-vault-7-cia-documents-hacked-what-you-need-to-know I'm getting the impression it isn't as fort knocks as it's made out to be?

[Dat Guy]

No, it's not.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

5 hours ago, AlexHouse said:

I always thought Linux was the most secure OS available but after reading https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/08/wikileaks-vault-7-cia-documents-hacked-what-you-need-to-know I'm getting the impression it isn't as fort knocks as it's made out to be?

With the right mindset and plenty of funding anything can be hacked.  It's harder on Linux, but still very possible.

 

Right now just about every major company (Google, Apple, Microsoft etc) has their security team working double or triple shifts to try and figure out vulnerabilities based on the descriptions from the documents. 

• Apple will come out with patches as soon as they have them and roll out staged updates.  They don't mess about, in the past they've shown their commitment to security.
• Google will come out with updates, send them to the phone manufacturers who then decide if the phone is young enough to get updates or too old to bother with (usually you're out of luck if your phone is a year or more old).  The manufacturers test the patches for as long as they want, then send them to the unlocked phones and to the carriers.  The carriers then test the patches with the phones they sold under contract, to make sure the patches don't interfere with their bloatware. 
  So it could take anywhere between a couple of weeks and half a year before your Android phone gets patched ... assuming they patch it at all. (Of course with custom ROMs like LineageOS patches keep coming for much longer, and usually faster than manufacturers deliver them)
• Microsoft makes patches, with some luck within a couple of months of the vulnerabilities being found.  They then wait for Patch Tuesday to push them out ... assuming they don't skip that one again like last month. 
  With some luck those patches fix the problem without sending bricking everyone's PC or putting it in a boot loop.
• Linux on the other hand ... Torvalds may have some security guys working with him, but due to the open-source nature of Linux a lot of the hunting and patching will be done by a vast army of neckbeards.  Those guys don't mess about either.  The time between an exploit being identified and the patch being rolled out to everyone is usually measured in days, if not hours. 

[iBurley]

I think these suggestions that because Linux is less used it's less targeted are bogus. This may be true for home users, but if you're after information or trying to do an actual attack, you're not going for home users. Even Microsoft's web servers run Linux, let's be real here.

[dave4shmups]

I've seen YouTube videos where someone is running Ubuntu, and it reminds me so much of Mac OS X.  Actually, from what I've seen at least, a lot of versions of Linux look like it; visually at least.  I suppose that's because Linux and Mac OS X are both based on Unix?  Linus seriously needs to do a TechQuikie YouTube video on Unix.  I tried reading about the history of it on Wikipedia, and my head almost exploded!

[Linus_torvalds]

On 3/3/2017 at 7:02 AM, dave4shmups said:

I've never used Linux before, but people keep saying that it's safer and more secure then Windows, when it comes to things like viruses.  What is it about Linux that makes it safer?

You can get virus on windows on every corner on the internet and with programs you install you can get malware, spyware and so on. At that time there is very little chance you will get virus on linux. This is because at max 2% of people use linux on their pcs while much large number of people use windows or mac. Even if there were as many viruses on linux, it would still be safer place then windows. Windows itself is spyware especially windows 10. As well as android, ios and MacOS. They spy on you and send many information to the MS, Google, Apple. In the end information ends up in CIA NSA hands. Now everyone knows, that they collect info about everyone.

Of course in the leaks there was info that they can collect some kind of info from linux OSs too, but if you need privacy and freedome you must first have control over YOUR hardware. The only way to achive this is to have 100% Free and opensource software, which tends to be linux. You can replace proprietary BIOS with Libreboot, you can install 100 % free and open source linux distributions and use free and open source programs. This way you ARE in a much safer position then if you were on windows or on mac. You have freedome of choice, you know no one spys on you using YOUR pc, no one is watching on you, listening to you while pc is turned off.

[noahdvs]

On 3/10/2017 at 1:27 PM, dave4shmups said:

I've seen YouTube videos where someone is running Ubuntu, and it reminds me so much of Mac OS X.  Actually, from what I've seen at least, a lot of versions of Linux look like it; visually at least.  I suppose that's because Linux and Mac OS X are both based on Unix?  Linus seriously needs to do a TechQuikie YouTube video on Unix.  I tried reading about the history of it on Wikipedia, and my head almost exploded!

The look of a Linux desktop environment has nothing to do with the similarity to Unix. Linux can be made to look like Windows, OS X or something completely different. Linux is merely a kernel, independent from the visuals, which is why so many wildly different distros can all be called Linux distros and use the same binaries. Also, it's not that important, but only the design of Linux is based on Unix. Linux was created from scratch; no Unix source code.

[Sauron]

On 3/3/2017 at 4:04 AM, Princess Cadence said:

Because so little people use it compared to Windows that scammers and hackers don't even waste time with it and only target the big platforms like windows and mac.

This, also no spyware (mostly) and a sounder privilege structure