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Rhys Sage wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid20050130181201.44019.qmail@web52702.mail.yahoo.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">It seems to me that Microsoft does not compare like
with like.
</pre>
</blockquote>
We agree!<br>
<blockquote cite="mid20050130181201.44019.qmail@web52702.mail.yahoo.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">
Linux, being free, has a problem in that malicious
code could possibly be secreted within the structure
of a distribution - code that might not be identified
until it's initiated which could happen some years
down the road. Linux also has a wide userbase of
people with no money and loads of spare time. This is
the same type of userbase that creates Windows viruses
- and no link is implied here between Lunix users and
virus writers.
Mac O/S doesn't suffer as much from viruses because
the kids who write viruses can't generally afford
Macs. Mac tends to be seen as more secure because less
people own them and thus less hackers have access to
one to hack.
</pre>
</blockquote>
We disagree - the whole idea of "many eyes making bugs shallow" is that
peer review is much more likely with open source. The sheer large
volume of people eyeballing code means that paragraph "a" is very
unlikely - for example, the kernel is strictly eyeballed and examined
for every line of code that makes it in....<br>
<br>
And Mac OSX's security is more related to its BSD roots then anything.<br>
<br>
The whole idea of Linux's security being through obscurity, in that
it's less prevalent, is a fallacy - for example, Apache is a large
component of the web servers out there - ditto with Unix mail servers.
They are open source.<br>
<br>
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<td valign="top"><img
src="cid:part1.04060106.07000508@rykala.demon.co.uk" alt="" align="top"
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<td valign="top"><font size="2"><em>Adam Rykala</em>
<br>
<em><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:adam@rykala.demon.co.uk">adam@rykala.demon.co.uk</a></em>
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<td valign="bottom"><font size="2"><i>"You can bring any
calculator you like to the midterm, as long as it <br>
doesn't dim the lights when you turn it on."
<br>
-- Hepler, Systems Design 182
<br>
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