Another silly question

[Norberto Quintanar]

--- Michael Torrie <torriem@chem.byu.edu> wrote:
> On Tue, 2004-01-20 at 19:44, Jim wrote:
> > Hello
> > I visited my father in-law over the weekend and I he needed some
> help 
> > with his pc.
> > I removed a lot of spyware that was on his pc,he runs winblows
> xp.
> > Now do we Linux people have to worry about spyware when we run
> Linux?
> 
> I would just say, "no," but I think it's a bit more complicated
> than
> that.  The same factors that make it very hard for viruses to
> propagate
> on linux (the strong separation between root and a normal user, no
> ms
> outlook) also would make it harder for spyware to get in on Linux. 
> Definitely not impossible, but certainly we wouldn't have web pages
> exploiting security flaws in the browser to install payload. 
> Spyware
> could still be embedded in apps, though, and there have been rumors
> that
> Real Player spied on users in some way.  These things could still
> happen
> on linux, but so far I haven't heard of any yet.  But it's not
> impossible.
> 
> Michael
> 
> 
> > Jim

I agree that there is no know spyware for linux.  I was just having
this discussion with some friends over the weekend and some argue the
root versus user wall.  Others argue that since Linux is opensource
if you were to find spyware code you could just delete it.  I think
it's easier than that.  Linux just doesn't have the market share to
appeal to marketers of spyware.  4% of the computer market just isn't
feasible.  Having said that, if any flavor of linux ever became a
strong market share holder, lookout.

=====
--Norberto Quintanar 

"You belong to something bigger. From birth. And your life is spent rediscovering the underlying principles, through various players -- coaches, mentors, teachers, spouses, kids. It's in your genes. Your responsibility. Destiny. Is all on you.  Lead, follow, or get out of the way."  
--Norberto Quintanar

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