The State of Linux Security

This topic was created by Walter Bishop .

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    The State of Linux Security

    'In the last 10 years, GNU/Linux achieved something some foreseen as almost impossible: powering both the smallest and biggest devices in the world, and everything in between. Only the desktop is not a conquered terrain yet.'

    1. Lotaresco

      Re: The State of Linux Security

      Yes, but I'm puzzled what the relevance to the state of Linux security is.

      I'm relentlessly downvoted elsewhere for pointing out that the Linux desktop is the Achilles heel. I have yet to see a Linux desktop that comes close to providing the functionality that a user expects and I suspect that the reason for this is that there's no powerful direction or vision within the Linux community. The kernel is an excellent piece of work largely because Linus whips the development teams to ensure strategy, compatibility and to give a coherent direction tot he work. Desktops just seem to lack that spark.

      Much as people dislike the idea to get a desktop that works you seem to need a team that drives itself with an obsessive personality in the lead. Someone who actually cares that it looks good and performs well.

      As to the state of security, Linux inherited some good things. It's easier to lock down an individual Linux box than to do the same with anything Windows. In fact Microsoft seem to enjoy working against any effort to secure Windows systems. It has taken a lot of effort to secure Windows 10 Pro as my desktop and much more effort configuring the firewall and mucking about with the registry to stop the damned thing phoning home every few minutes. Perhaps the worst feature I have seen so far is the login splash screen which shows active content and which, until I removed it, was being used by Microsoft to display advertising links that would take a user to a random website. Fortunately we don't have that garbage in Linux (yet).

      What Linux lacks at the moment is a clear equivalent to Active Directory. On a Windows estate it is relatively easy as admin tasks go to roll out patches, updates and security configuration to all desktops and servers. For Linux it's still an "individual handcrafted" approach that isn't as useful for an enterprise trying to manage thousands of desktops.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Linux

        Re: The State of Linux Security

        "I'm relentlessly downvoted elsewhere for pointing out that the Linux desktop is the Achilles heel. I have yet to see a Linux desktop that comes close to providing the functionality that a user expects and I suspect that the reason for this is that there's no powerful direction or vision within the Linux community."

        I have to disagree. The user has a choice of a number of desktops, from the feature-rich to the minimalist. Best Linux Desktop Environments for 2016. I do think they've done very well up to now, to provide compatibility without a single source of centralized management. Indeed decentralized developement is one of its strengths.

  2. Scona

    where can i download the APPs?

    where can i download the APPs?

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