this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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No, it's a user problem on both OS's. Installing random shit from untrustworthy sources is a much more likely source of infection that a zero-day, network-based exploit, etc
Not every OS allows you to simply click on a random installer/eventually (maybe enter a password) and get owned. IOS on phones doesn't. Android requires you enable untrusted sources.
It sounds like not including a GUI app by default to click-install random packages (outside the package manager) is the extra step for various Linux distros. That's not a problem, that's a good idea.
Github is untrustworthy, anyone can put anything on there. It is up to the end user to determine if a project is safe to use or not.
The default repos for Debain on the other hand are filled only with software that has been checked by at least one competent person, making them inherently safe.
But I thought the open nature of open source meant it was safe because someone has checked all code everywhere!
This shit has become tedious.
No kidding. Open source software is safe because it can come from a trusted source that can be checked by others. Not every open source project is checked but the default repos of Debian, for example, are checked and can be trusted.
All closed source software, on the other hand, is untrustworthy because it can never be checked. This goes for the iOS and Android ecosystems as well. Despite their walled gardens the software is not open and can not be checked, which is why malicious software keeps making it's way onto phones.
Have you ever heard of malicious code in the Debian repos?
I think I heard so a few times, yes. Depends on what you define as "malicious" and which of the repos you'd call Debian repos. Is Debian only stable or is it unstable and testing or contrib or non-free aswell?
It always was tedious to use computers, people just get a lot of stuff abstracted away by millions of hours of manpower.
Was it ever trustworthy? What made you think that?