[K12OSN] Some "community friendly" presentation ideas

[Dan Young]

On Sat, 2005-09-10 at 15:46 -0500, Bill Bardon wrote:
> Hmm...  is there a virus or spyware program for Linux or Mac OS X in the
> wild right now?

Not my point. You said "invulnerable," which is a misleading, peremptory
phrase at best.

> Talk hypothetically if you want, but in reality malware doesn't
> propagate on Linux or Mac due to the separation of the OS and user
> space. Without a successful method of propagation, it's only laboratory
> science at this point.

A non-trivial amount of malware consists of web browser exploits.
There's an IDN exploit out for Firefox right now which allows arbitrary
code execution. Have you patched it yet?
http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=7307

OK, so it couldn't delete /usr/bin, but it could wreck my home
directory. I care about my data a heck of a lot more than my binaries.

> "Less susceptible", as in, 100,000 viruses in the wild for Windows vs. 0
> for Linux? The "less susceptible" terminology tends to support those who
> say Windows is only attacked because of its market share, and that if
> Linux were more common, it would have just as many viruses.  This is
> false.

All I'm saying is that people being "sold" on Open Source will be
justifiably skeptical of superlatives such as "invulnerable". Talking to
them like you respect their intelligence is a good idea.

> Rather than choosing either of our comparative terms, how about we just
> say Linux "doesn't get" viruses or spyware?

How about "hasn't gotten many".

> 'Cause it sure hasn't on
> any of the systems I've run in the last eight years!  :-)

The plural of anecdote is not data. Cheers!

-- 
Dan Young <dan_young at parkrose.k12.or.us>
Parkrose School District