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0 pointschx8y ago0 comments

For me at least the big problem is malware. Running Arch Linux means I do not need to worry about malware. Ransomware. Crap like that. Yes, I am a reasonably experienced computer user and it's quite unlikely I would click anything "wrong" but not having to worry about a single bad click causing hours of recovery is a big plus.

Edit: while I understand downvotes I would be much happier if you'd educate me where I am wrong.

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noen8y ago

If you avoid the darknet/warez and use Windows defender and Windows security essentials (MS antivirus), you will largely forget this was ever an issue with Windows.

Even my parents, love them, haven't had a single piece of malware or a virus since I forced Windows 10 upon them (from Windows 7). They were not happy at first, but the number of calls I get for "why is my computer so slow" and "what is this thing that keeps popping up" have dropped to 0.

microtonal8y ago

Running Arch Linux means I do not need to worry about malware. Ransomware. Crap like that.

I didn't downvote you and understand your concern. However, keep in mind that X11 has no GUI isolation. So, an attacker could snoop all your keyboard and mouse events, make screengrabs, etc. through a compromised web browser.

Wayland provides GUI isolation, but is not widely deployed yet. Most X11 users are only safe because the X11 desktop is not a large target group, but it is probably less secure than Windows, which does GUI isolation between processes of different privilege levels, sandboxing for Store apps, etc.

beagle38y ago

That's true, but it only matters once the attacker manages to run code - which is significantly harder to achieve on Linux, due to diversity (opposite of win monoculture) and mostly sane defaults (no local directory in executable or dll search directory; file name not enough for execute permission).

Buffer overflows and targeted attacks are comparable in ease, but if you are not targeted, you are way safer on Linux.

Accacin8y ago

So there's a chance someone could snoop on me using X11, but there's a 100% chance of it on Windows because of all the data they're collecting in the background (including being able to get a copy of a file that triggered a crash).

I'll take Linux, thanks.

ghshephard8y ago

Beats the heck out of me - you make a good point. Windows Systems are certainly more popular targets for Malware than ArchLinux/OpenBSD. I absolutely agree with you that if just want to not deal with that (and still actually use the Internet) - getting off the major platforms is a pretty straightforward play.

But - if you want to use all the Tier 1 Commercial software (or, in the cases of things like garageband, free software ) - kind of hard not to have a Windows or Mac.

oblio8y ago

All experienced Windows user have a curated list of software. If you download shady apps, sure, good chance of getting infected. But Chrome, Firefox, TotalCommander, 7-zip, Sublime, etc., etc. are all free, mature and malware free.

It may not be as conceptually easy as Arch Linux but on the other hand you get access to Windows-only stuff which has its benefits.

And almost any Linux user should be able to create that curated list within 6 months, IMO. If they aren't, then I doubt even their Linux chops...

nunez8y ago

Installing apps on Windows is 100% as easy to do now as it is with Homebrew and Linux package managers with Chocolatey. I don't download software anymore on my Surface; I choco install EVERYTHING.

I was even surprised to discover today that I could install IntelliJ via choco install! It is amazing.

chxOP8y ago

If there was Hckrnews gold, it'd be yours. This alleviates a lot of problems I constantly had with Windows, namely downloading crap from who-knows-where then contains who-knows-what. This actually might be the deciding factor.

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lottin8y ago

Malware, spyware built into the system and the fact that it's not open source, meaning the whole thing it's basically an unmaintainable black box.

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