Condobloke
Well-Known Member
How Secure Is Linux? | LinuxSecurity.com
Secure by Design When it comes to security, Linux users are at a decided advantage over their Window
linuxsecurity.com
Thanks to @Lord Boltar for the link
How Secure Is Linux?
- Thread starter Condobloke
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linuxsecurity.com
Thanks to @Lord Boltar for the link
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Deleted member 147986
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As secure as the person behind the keyboard. Being a Linux user doesn't magically fix ignorance.
Brickwizard
Well-Known Member
True, it makes no difference what OS you use, the weakest point in the security, is now and has always been between the seat and the Keyboard, and this will never change.
Different flavors of Linux have different types of layers of security.
A lot of it depends on your network security also.
www.redhat.com
Redhat for example is one of the Linux's the military uses.
They seem to prefer SElinux based systems.
www.zdnet.com
linuxsecurity.com
It depends on the commander of a given sector, but many Military commands think Linux is more secure than Windows.
A lot of it depends on your network security also.
Department of Defense | Red Hat | IT modernization and security
Learn how Red Hat helps the DoD innovate with agility, standardize interoperability across branches and agencies, and maintain a high security protocol.
Redhat for example is one of the Linux's the military uses.
Many Security-Critical Military Systems Are Now Using Linux - Slashdot
b-dayyy shared this article from Linux Security: The United States government's respect for and acceptance of open-source development has steadily grown stronger over the past decade, and the U.S. government is increasingly using open-source software as a way to roll out advanced, highly secure...
tech.slashdot.org
They seem to prefer SElinux based systems.
The Air Force's secure Linux distribution
Linux has long had a close, working relationship with governments, but Lightweight Portable Security (LPS) is the first official U.S. Linux distribution.
www.zdnet.com
Linux: An OS Capable of Effectively Meeting the US Government’s Sec...
Because of its open-source roots, Linux is foundationally secure, highly reliable, and incredibly ad
linuxsecurity.com
It depends on the commander of a given sector, but many Military commands think Linux is more secure than Windows.
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Deleted member 147986
Guest
Linux is more configurable than other operating systems, you can change it to fit your needs.
Giving something that is configured as secure as default to the general public will instantly meet resistance as they can't do what they want to do, or what they expect of a computer. None of this has anything to do with the operating system.
How many years did it take the US Military to stop sending their email to Mali (.ml) instead of .mil adressses despite Mali complaining?
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www.theverge.com
Large organizations are so bureaucratic they can't turn on a dime.
These are societal issues, not Linux issues.
Giving something that is configured as secure as default to the general public will instantly meet resistance as they can't do what they want to do, or what they expect of a computer. None of this has anything to do with the operating system.
How many years did it take the US Military to stop sending their email to Mali (.ml) instead of .mil adressses despite Mali complaining?
“Millions” of sensitive US military emails were reportedly sent to Mali due to a typo
Emails have been mistakenly routed to Mali for over a decade.
www.theverge.com
Large organizations are so bureaucratic they can't turn on a dime.
These are societal issues, not Linux issues.
Heh... I visited this link when it was first posted, as I often do. This time, Chromium decided to interrupt my browsing - theoretically for my benefit. (It did not benefit me.)
I must have some safe browsing option enabled. I'll have to find that and turn it off.
I must have some safe browsing option enabled. I'll have to find that and turn it off.
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Deleted member 147986
Guest
Alternatively, embrace Firefox for for the scraps of freedom we still have left when it comes to browsers. It's absurd we live in a society where Google pays Firefox every year just so they can point to having competition in a court of law instead of being treated like the monopoly they are.
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Yeah, no... No, I'm not a fan of Firefox. I use it long enough to download a browser that I like.
I was once a pretty big supporter, donating regularly and all that. I even have my fake name printed in their NYT advertisement from back in the day.
I prefer Chrome and Chromium. Much like operating systems, I'm good with whatever folks prefer to use. Firefox will survive without me.
That and I'm now just comfortable with what I use. I have profiles that I move from device to device, all the extensions configured, etc... There's a lack of inertia going on.
But, it may change. Every few years I migrate to new default browsers after some annoyance prompts it. I could end up back on Firefox. I do love Thunderbird, however.
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Deleted member 147986
Guest
So can we (and the courts) finally admit Google has a monopoly or are we going to do this dance for the next 10 years where Google pays Firefox and pretends everything is fine.
Probably.
My guess will be that they'd then use the Chromium (open source and the engine behind a zillion other browsers) browser as their way of claiming it's not a monopoly. After all, it's 'open source' and evidence would show that people can fork it to make their own browser.
(I do not expect the courts to understand technology very well - but I'll leave that there lest it turns political in nature.)
Though, right now, Google Chrome (specifically) accounts for ~73% of the traffic on my busiest website.
"Unknown" is the next largest category and is about 19%. (That'll be some Chromium stuff, most likely.)
Firefox is down to maybe 5% and is 3rd on the list.
That's a site dedicated to Linux, so it probably gets more Firefox traffic than other sites.
Things to Remember: It doesn't take 100% to be considered a monopoly.
Terminal Velocity
Well-Known Member
Browser Market Share Africa | Statcounter Global Stats
This graph shows the market share of browsers in Africa based on over 5 billion monthly page views.
gs.statcounter.com
From the stats of this site it seems that Europe supports Firefox the most, in the developing world like Africa Firefox performs the worst and the other stats are odd, Opera is big there and Chrome is kinging with 70+ percent
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Deleted member 147986
Guest
Enjoy your Google overlords I guess. No need for democracy or accountability, just open your holes for daddy Google.
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Oh, absolutely. I knowingly (and willingly) cede my privacy to Google. In exchange, I get services that I appreciate, from ads to personalized search results.
I only see it as a problem when people aren't aware of what they're giving up. Then, well, it's on them to understand.
Amusingly, I have someone that I know who will read all those terms of service and refuses to join things because she values her privacy. Standing proud in her kitchen is an Alexa and her home security system is a web-based service.
But, anyhow, I happily cede my privacy in exchange for the services I get. They even pay me for the ads on my website. They also provide analytics, but those actually suck. They are not so good at that job. I'd think they'd be better at it, but they are not.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems
If firefox is at 5%, what would one think of linux at 1.2%? The linux browser universe is so extensive that whenever one goes down, another pops up. In the past the default web browser here was xombrero until it was discontinued. The current situation here is like sampling an ever-changing parade of browsers on a rotisserie of them. The ones with built in blocking and security like librewolf and brave are popular, so both firefox derivatives and chrome are both getting a workout here.
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I see various estimates on this one, with many being as high as 3 to 4% using Linux on the desktop.
Which works out to be 'a bunch of people'. I once dug out the math, as much as possible, and I've long since forgotten the numbers I came up with, but it was somewhere around 40,000,000 desktop Linux users.
I think... I posted the math here on this site when I last went through and checked the numbers.
So, it's a bunch of us. (I forget which numbers I used for the Linux portion.)
What's more interesting is that I suspect there are more instances of Linux as a server out there. As of like 8 yeas ago, there was "at least" 100,000,000 servers (that power the world wide web) and Linux dominates that market.
That's entirely likely. If one of the major browsers fails, someone's bound to write a new one.
I'd say that there's a lot of room for change in the browser market. We need something with a new dynamic, something different than what we get now, to really make a change. I have no idea what that will look like.
Also, while Android users are technically using Linux, I do not count them among the desktop market. I guess one could technically say that Linux dominates the mobile market. I figure that too has the ability to change.
Oh, and another thing that surprised me was how few people use a desktop computer these days - as a percentage of people. There's a whole lot of people who do their entire computing with nothing but a cell phone or tablet.
I put the numbers here somewhere a while back. Like, a long while back... It wasn't in its own thread or anything, so I'm not seeing it when I use the search function. I'm pretty sure the 40 million estimate above is a bit lower than it should be, but that's the number that's stuck in my head. Finding numbers to work with was difficult and inexact.
That seems to be the way of things.
Mosaic - RIP
Netscape - RIP
Internet Exploder - RIP
Opera - RIP
Is Mac Safari now?
Windows is Edge now?
Then of course you have Firefox and Chrome.
I used to shy away from the "big Brother" ( owners of the web ) Apple, Microsoft and Google.
But now they already know everything about me, so it doesn't matter that much.
It seems we lost that battle a long time ago.
There are things I like about Chrome. But I mostly use Firefox, not because of big brother,
but I actually like the interface. The settings, plugins, and bookmarks are easier for me and
make more logical sense.
Netscape later became Firefox.
Once upon a time, I used to pay for Opera.
Their browser is interesting once again, though it's just another Chromium fork.
Edge is now a Chromium fork - installable on Linux, even.
(I'm not sure if you knew those things, so I figured I'd mention it.)
I think there's room for competition in the browser world, but I'm not sure what that would look like.
Frankly, a browser is almost an operating system now. They're that complicated. They're that customizable.
I think if a major competitor is to be found, they're going to have to find a way to shake things up in a way that is better than what we have now. Maybe this will involve some intelligent tab management, more interoperability with the OS, etc...
I really haven't got a clue what it'll look like - but there are people far more creative than I am.
Heck, we have (collectively) not even done a whole lot different even though we have WebGL and HTML5. Our web pages are still largely the same.
I have pondered what a virtual reality browsing experience might be like but I suspect that will just be terrible, like Microsoft Bob or the old VRML sites.
Brickwizard
Well-Known Member
Watching this thread reminded me of my first ISP, that was the brilliant CompuServe, which disappeared from our lives after several changes of hands, and final became Yahoo
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