this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
175 points (96.3% liked)
Linux
48365 readers
1521 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
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?