[K12OSN] Windows Antispyware(Beta) vs Linux

Jim Kronebusch jim at winonacotter.org
Sat Feb 12 18:13:19 UTC 2005


> This is on an AMD K6-2 running at 300MHz.  About as low maintenance 
> as you can get.  The only thing I have to do is check the logs,
>  which, BTW, show that it is subject to between 50,000 and 100,000 
> individual attacks every day.  All have been repelled to date.  The 
> same applies to my DNS servers, also running GNU/Linux.
> 
> Try getting these results with a Windows box directly accessible 
> from the Internet, and especially if you're running Exchange Server. 
>  :-D  I know, I tried; this box was in fact running Exchange Server 
> when it got cracked.  That's when I switched it to GNU/Linux...465 
> days ago.

Here, here.  In my business as a computer repair company and my full time 
job working in schools I of course work on many servers and OS's.  In the 
last 2 years the only machines I have not had to touch, are my linux 
servers.  I only have 5 production Linux servers right now and a handful of 
Linux routers, but the only time I touch them is to add a feature or perform 
and upgrade.  Every Windows server I have or that I run into is constantly 
battling viruses and hacks.  I can put all the protection in the world on 
them and constantly monitor and update them, but something always slips 
through the cracks.  

One of my stupid Windows Email servers has services randomly stop.  I have 
so many users on it I haven't taken the time to move them to a Linux mail 
server (I am still perfecting a multiple domain setup as well before the 
move).  So I have gone as far as writing a batch file that monitors the main 
services every minute, and if one has stopped it restarts it.  Pretty stupid 
huh.

In my eyes Linux is the only way to go for a server, and I only install 
Windows now if the customer/user needs a Windows server due to some crap 
software that only runs on .Net with IIS or something or absolutely "needs" 
exchange.  But before doing so I make sure to educate them on their decision 
and let them know that I have no problem taking their money to keep coming 
back to fix the machine :-)

And the only thing holding it back at the desktop level is familiarity and 
ease of use.  Installing programs has become easier with yum/apt/rpms etc so 
most of that has been taken care of unless you have a need to compile from 
source or something.  The only thing left is teaching users the new 
software.  

So for the future Linux is the only possible stable platform option I see. 
And it doesn't take too long to see that its options are endless (thanks 
OSS). Sure you have mac, but luckily they keep shooting themselves in the 
foot by making money off of hardware not software, and giving the only good 
thing they have going (the os) no future since it won't run on anything but 
a proprietary platform.  Don't get me wrong, I love OSX, it just doesn't run 
on anything I have or on a platform I can afford.  But that is a whole other 
discussion.....I can feel the heat already :-)

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