[LINK] The bad guys have won (was Re: www.ipv6.org.au/summit)

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Glen Turner wrote:
> Scott Howard wrote:
> 
>> You can blame the OS all you want, but if the user clicks "Run" then who's
>> fault is it really?
> 
> So let's take the Malware du Jour, "Windows Xp Antivirus 2008", a program
> by the Russian Mafia that looks like a real virus scanner.
> 
> Is installing that the fault of the user, or is it the fault of an
> industry which encourages the use of uncertified third-party programs?
> And is that in turn the fault of companies whose past behaviours make it
> unreasonable for applications authors to trust that certification will
> be made available to their programs, even where they compete with applications
> from the OS vendor or where they damage sales of the operating system.
> 
> [And I don't just mean Microsoft. Apple certify applications for the
> iPhone, and their behaviour there hasn't been a model of goodness.]
> 
> One of the reasons Linux has less malware is that everything you want
> is available from a certified source (ie, a well-known software
> repository). Whenever people promote the need for Linux to have
> "installation programs" I wonder if they've thought through the consequences
> of that.
> 

It is the open source aspect of Linux that gives me confidence.

I once had to rely on a  closed source free modem driver - this was a stressful
time and it was with some relief that I upgraded from that version of Knoppix
and moved to Ethernet.

I agree, with an earlier posting, that to some degree MSWindows versions are
targetted because of the bang for your effort - but Linux certainly appears to
be intrisically more secure. Even at the laptop itself, the security makes
itself obvious.

While software may be certified, I doubt you will find much to base your
confidence on, in the license.

Returning to the IP6 discussion, my understanding is that this is an issue for 
legacy networks. China has standardised on IPV6 which is a big enough market to 
produce good products.

Marghanita
-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://www.ramin.com.au
Phone: (+61)0414 869202