Computer Viruses...

[Tyler]

[mukade]

Most of the hackers I have known target linux systems to test their ninja skills.
Linux boxes are often servers, which are jucier targets for your average hack fan.

I am not a fan of Windows, but I think if Linux was as common as Windows it would have more security problems.

Security isn't an OS problem, it is a human problem.
As long as you take the appropriate precautions, you lower the chances of being hacked whatever your OS.

Mukade

[anniemcu]

Goodness! What are you doing? Using Linux?

I don't have a problem with using any OS. They're just tools that do a job, and I'll use whichever is best for a particular situation.

I just have a strong dislike for mac and linux users who shout about how bad windows is all the time, just because their operating systems have such an insignificant user base no-one can be bothered to write viruses for them.

At home I like to use run a wide range of games and have the largest choice of applications available to me without having to muck about with config setttings or whatever, so I run windows.

There are plenty of things to shout about when complaining about Windows, expecially now that they are wedging the all new and improved (cough) Vista.

I didn't lose the use of my computer to Windows, though... I lost it to some sh*t-head intruder that got past my firewall and virus protections. Perhaps they were aided by a chink in the wall due to Windows, but it was still the intruder who broke in. If Firefox and Linux are less prone to attack, they may well be worth the change, but I am first and foremost going to ensure that my business computer and my internet computer are not the same.

[anniemcu]

A better one:
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm

Cool! Thanks for the linkie!

Oh yes! My thanks for that too!

[chrisoff]

If Firefox and Linux are less prone to attack, they may well be worth the change

I dunno about less prone to attack (recently Firefox has had it's fair share of vulnerabilities) but I prefer Firefox to IE. There's no harm in having both installed and see which one you like better.

[peeplj]

This is a bit outside the scope of the OP; however, since so many expressed shock and horror on my comments on Frontpage, I thought I'd take a second and share why I like it so much.

Once upon a time part of my job was to design and administrate the website for a medical clinic...about one hundred and forty pages, many of which had to share information which needed to be updated in realtime.

At the time that this was handed to me (roughly early 2001), I took a look at the tools available at that time. Frontpage was very content-centric; it allowed me to treat all 140+ pages as a single unit, add or delete pages and have all navigation and content links update automatically, and, most importantly, to update information only once and have it automatically ripple those changes through all pages.

At the time, most of the other tools available were coder-friendly, with lots of editing features and tagging features and support for nice little pop-up java and flash apps...all of which were pretty much useless for my purpose.

Perhaps there are better tools out there now; I haven't really had much of a reason to look since then. At the time, Frontpage fit my needs nicely.

--James

[fancypiper]

I didn't lose the use of my computer to Windows, though... I lost it to some sh*t-head intruder that got past my firewall and virus protections. Perhaps they were aided by a chink in the wall due to Windows, but it was still the intruder who broke in. If Firefox and Linux are less prone to attack, they may well be worth the change, but I am first and foremost going to ensure that my business computer and my internet computer are not the same.

I hope you wern't using the Windows firewall.
Best Free Firewalls

Did you create a good password to log into your computer? Most people don't bother, but it is another hoop the cracker must jump through.

Password Security

Also, Firefox security holes are fixed much faster than Internet Explorer, usually within 3 days max.

[fearfaoin]

That was definitely the best kind of xkcd:
only a few will get it, but those few will
laugh uproariously.

[chrisoff]

That was definitely the best kind of xkcd:
only a few will get it, but those few will
laugh uproariously.

Once I read the full strip I laughed my ass off. Then I was sad, a little part of me wished I didn't get it.

[fearfaoin]

Once I read the full strip I laughed my ass off.
Then I was sad, a little part of me wished I didn't get it.

Ah, been there, done that, eh?

[chrisoff]

Ah, been there, done that, eh?

I may have spent a portion of my recent time fixing some flawed validation in an app I wrote.

But really it's because like most geeks I get embarrassed when I veer too far into nerdery, which certainly includes getting the joke in that comic strip. Hell I even understand exactly what problem the name will create and why it will cause it.

[sbfluter]

Frontpage! That's the best laugh I've had all day. Thanks for that. And thanks for the reminder. I want to try to install Linux on a PC I have. I don't want or need Windows. What I want is to run GoToMyPC and access my work PC from a bare-bones linux computer at home.

[anniemcu]

I didn't lose the use of my computer to Windows, though... I lost it to some sh*t-head intruder that got past my firewall and virus protections. Perhaps they were aided by a chink in the wall due to Windows, but it was still the intruder who broke in. If Firefox and Linux are less prone to attack, they may well be worth the change, but I am first and foremost going to ensure that my business computer and my internet computer are not the same.

I hope you wern't using the Windows firewall.
Best Free Firewalls

Did you create a good password to log into your computer? Most people don't bother, but it is another hoop the cracker must jump through.

Password Security

Also, Firefox security holes are fixed much faster than Internet Explorer, usually within 3 days max.

We use a router so there is a built-in firewall, plus anti-virus, spy ware an the like protection, etc.. This was a trojan that got in when i visited a website that purported to have Civil war era info, but I was suspicious of the addy, but before I could close it the demon was delivered. Now I have separated my business machine from my web machine, and though I may get hit again, despit the protections inplacee, it wo't leave me in the same state of panic. I can handle that.