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Should I pitch Ubuntu to virus victims?

Should I pitch Ubuntu to virus victims?

I've noticed that on a regular basis I see facebook statuses complaining about viruses (e.g. "sorry I haven't been on in a few days... my comp got socked by a virus and I had to reinstall everything")

Asked by: Guest | Views: 140
Total answers/comments: 4
Guest [Entry]

"Someone untrained with any Linux distro (well most, non locked down ones), is just as dangerous as someone on a Windows machine.

It is all about education - do not download from people you don't trust, don't be an idiot!

Many people open up emails from ""Microsoft"" about patches, install it and get a virus or similar.... Install any/all crap they find online because it is free etc.

I have been using Windows for years without a Virus problem, I never used to use Anti Virus either - I just started with Microsoft Security Essentials. I would recommend that you advise this to people who have had problems.

Someone switching to Linux from Windows is not an easy task - if they only use web apps, or programs that work with WINE, it is doable, but I think that giving someone a basic education of computer security would be a lot better.

Side note! - The more people who use Linux are simply going to make it a bigger target, the more people you recommend, the unsafer it gets! Every OS has its fair share of bugs, you cannot be 100% safe... Security through obscurity works to a point, but sooner or later, people will start abusing the bugs.... I have seen quite a few rootkits or similar viruses installed on Linux machines recently.

Edit -

It should also be said that UAC in Windows Vista and 7 really help - tell a user to always click deny (or set it to automatically deny). If the machine is set up how they like, the average user should never have the need to allow/elevate."
Guest [Entry]

In my opinion if the user was not tech savvy enough learn how to avoid being infected with a virus, he/she is probably not going to figure out how to use nautilus to move files around in Linux or how to install some application/plugin that he/she downloaded off the internet.
Guest [Entry]

My opinion is that it is a good suggestion depending on your target audience. Younger generations will be able to easily pick up on the basics as most younger people tend to be "web-centric". They could care less the OS as long as they can access their web apps. In their case they would be able to pick up on the nuances of browsing and downloading pics and videos with ease. The benefit here is that though it is till security through obscurity, the attack vector is not Linux alone but a combination of linux and the browser which are constantly competing to to claim security superiority (the browsers). They are less likely to get infected this way even if they do something stupid (not impossible though). The older your target audience gets thought the harder the challenge. not because they are stupid though. It is generally because of what their expectations are in a computer. they have most likely spent their entire computing lives on windows releases and they have a different level of expectations in the form of usability and support. They can pick it up but they will be a little more finicky about it though since linux tends to be a support it yourself proposition. I use both windows and linux at work and at home. I prefer linux for most everything but Windows does still have the edge in some areas. If you feel that strongly about your OS/Distro choice, you should create a USB Stick loaded with your distro that runs and provide it to those friends with instructions on how to boot to it. If they like it they will come back for more help from you. if they do not, they will stick with what they know and will continue to have their problems until you or someone else educates them on how to properly use their OS of choice. An old saying goes that you are what you eat; the same applies to computers, if you feed your computer garbage is will become that regardless of your OS choice.
Guest [Entry]

I only use linux etc etc bu in all honesty the people getting infected on the windows side are going to be the same people who you install linux for and they constantly get confused why the .exe they are trying to install from some random website isnt working. Get confused when this or that happens. It comes down to, you can either charge them to fix there windows machine :), install linux and maintain it until they are semi competent ( which is easier now with VNC etc) or just ignore it and let them get by how they are. Maybe suggest an antivirus, firefox + adblock + noflash and the host file from mvphosts.