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We in the Linux community are steeped in the conventional wisdom that Linux is much more secure than Windows. It is, of course, and it always has been, but then, that isn't saying much.
Dear Reader,
We in the Linux community are steeped in the conventional wisdom that Linux is much more secure than Windows. It is, of course, and it always has been, but then, that isn't saying much. The old versions of Windows that were around 20 years ago, when Linux was first starting to pick up steam, were really ridiculously insecure. Meanwhile, Microsoft kept bragging about how great Windows was and how you'd better be using it or you'd be left in the dust. The combination of Microsoft's engineering buffoonery and malicious marketing (they called Linux a cancer) gave the Linux community an attitude that remains to this day.
That attitude gave Linux developers an edge over the years when it came to competition and innovation, but the edge of attitude can be sharp and precipitous. Most Linux users are aware of the need to take standard security precautions, but there is also a tendency for denial among some of the Linux faithful about whether all that security advice really even applies to them. Ransomware? Privilege escalation? Must have been a Windows problem….
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