Linux vs Windows on Virii - Questions

Hi all,

I have many examples of people stating that Linux is "safer" then Windows
regarding virii. I need proof - for a business case. I need to sell Linux
on the Desktop at the company I work, and the attitude of the technology
people is that of: "if the risks are the same on Linux, why bother?"

If you can, please provide URLs to technical papers, research ( University
research would help a lot ), maybe some HOWTO's and whatever you think
will give enough info regarding this topic.

I was also thinking along the lines of the new 'user Mode' features. Is
there any practical benefit to run a desktop user in this environment?
Is there any way to compromise this environment that you know of? Reason I
ask is that I'm thinking in the lines of deploying desktop solutions where
the desktop users work in 'user mode', which means that it is easier to
contain virii - if they break out in user space.

I will be the first to admit that I know very little about the new virus
trends, virus threat on linux and of course user mode Linux, so any help
will be greatly appreciated.

You comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks

--
Nico Coetzee

http://www.itfirms.co.za/
http://za.pm.org/
http://forums.databasejournal.com/

To the systems programmer, users and applications serve only to provide a
test load.

Nico Coetzee wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have many examples of people stating that Linux is "safer" then Windows
> regarding virii. I need proof - for a business case. I need to sell Linux
> on the Desktop at the company I work, and the attitude of the technology
> people is that of: "if the risks are the same on Linux, why bother?"
>
> If you can, please provide URLs to technical papers, research ( University
> research would help a lot ), maybe some HOWTO's and whatever you think
> will give enough info regarding this topic.
>
> I was also thinking along the lines of the new 'user Mode' features. Is
> there any practical benefit to run a desktop user in this environment?
> Is there any way to compromise this environment that you know of? Reason I
> ask is that I'm thinking in the lines of deploying desktop solutions where
> the desktop users work in 'user mode', which means that it is easier to
> contain virii - if they break out in user space.
>
> I will be the first to admit that I know very little about the new virus
> trends, virus threat on linux and of course user mode Linux, so any help
> will be greatly appreciated.
>
> You comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Due to file permissions linux virii are very rare. If a user were
to run a virri it would not affect the system files or other
users files.

There is even a "The Linux virus writing HOWTO"
http://www.lwfug.org/~abartoli/virus...g-HOWTO/_html/

Should I get anti-virus software for my Linux box?
http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/#virus

--
Confucius: He who play in root, eventually kill tree.
Registered with The Linux Counter. http://counter.li.org/
Slackware 9.0 Kernel 2.4.22 i686 (GCC) 3.3
Uptime: 7 days, 3:49, 1 user, load average: 0.65, 0.56, 0.44

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 07:49:24 +0200, Nico Coetzee wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have many examples of people stating that Linux is "safer" then
> Windows regarding virii.

Hi!

"The plural of virus is neither viri nor virii, nor even vira nor virora.
It is quite simply viruses, irrespective of context. Here's why." More on
that here:

http://www.perl.com/language/misc/virus.html

Thanks!
Bob J.

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 03:07:45 +0000, Bob J. wrote:

> On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 07:49:24 +0200, Nico Coetzee wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I have many examples of people stating that Linux is "safer" then
>> Windows regarding virii.
>
> Hi!
>
> "The plural of virus is neither viri nor virii, nor even vira nor virora.
> It is quite simply viruses, irrespective of context. Here's why." More on
> that here:
>
> http://www.perl.com/language/misc/virus.html
>
> Thanks!
> Bob J.

Ok, noted. As an excuse, English is my second language, so I do guess a
lot of words, and I saw this term used a bit, so naturally I thought that
must be it.

Doen't help to much on my problem :(

Cheers
--
Nico Coetzee

http://www.itfirms.co.za/
http://za.pm.org/
http://forums.databasejournal.com/

To the systems programmer, users and applications serve only to provide a
test load.

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 07:35:18 +0200, Nico Coetzee wrote:
>> Hi!
>>
>> "The plural of virus is neither viri nor virii, nor even vira nor virora.
>> It is quite simply viruses, irrespective of context. Here's why." More on
>> that here:
>>
>> http://www.perl.com/language/misc/virus.html
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Bob J.
>
> Ok, noted. As an excuse, English is my second language, so I do guess a
> lot of words, and I saw this term used a bit, so naturally I thought that
> must be it.
>
> Doen't help to much on my problem :(
>
> Cheers
Hi Nico,
I think your English is very good. Lots of native speakers of English
write 'virii', too.

Perhaps these articles will be useful:
http://librenix.com/?inode=21
http://www.claws-and-paws.com/virus/..._viruses.shtml
http://www.developer.com/tech/article.php/625211
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/lin...2076622,00.htm

Lots more where those came from, just search Google for 'linux viruses'.

Bob J.

"Bob J." wrote:

> "The plural of virus is neither viri nor virii, nor even vira nor virora.
> It is quite simply viruses, irrespective of context. Here's why." More on
> that here:
>
> http://www.perl.com/language/misc/virus.html

Does that mean I can't use the word "doofi" anymore?

--
Jim Thomas Principal Applications Engineer Bittware, Inc
jthomas@bittware.com http://www.bittware.com (703) 779-7770
There are 10 kinds of people: the ones who understand binary code,
and the ones who don't.

"Bob J." <jaku@*remove*w-link.net> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:pan.2003.09.07.03.08.55.229619@*remove*w-link.net...

> http://www.perl.com/language/misc/virus.html

i'm not so sure about this discussion (virus, i 2nd declension with not much
to say about, since authors like Cicero, T.Livius use it as such), i think
it's "viri": simple as that. but that doesn't really matter since linux is
still virus-free :))
____________________________
V a l e r i o M e r a n i
http://www.lazarus.eurix.org
____________________________

"Valerio M" <chiedi@loa.me> writes:

> "Bob J." <jaku@*remove*w-link.net> ha scritto nel messaggio
> news:pan.2003.09.07.03.08.55.229619@*remove*w-link.net...
>
>> http://www.perl.com/language/misc/virus.html
>
> i'm not so sure about this discussion (virus, i 2nd declension with not much
> to say about, since authors like Cicero, T.Livius use it as such), i think
> it's "viri": simple as that. but that doesn't really matter since linux is
> still virus-free :))

Totally misses the point that it's *English* we're speaking here, not
dropping-in random words of bogo-Latin in a failed attempt to appear posh.

~Tim
--
Too fast to live, |piglet@stirfried.vegetable.org.uk
too young to die |http://spodzone.org.uk/
bye bye. |

"Tim Haynes" <usenet-20030909@stirfried.vegetable.org.uk> ha scritto nel
messaggio news:86wuciiapi.fsf@potato.vegetable.org.uk...
> Totally misses the point that it's *English* we're speaking here,

"virus" simply isn't an English word my friend...

> dropping-in random words of bogo-Latin in a failed attempt to appear posh.

no-comment on that
____________________________
V a l e r i o M e r a n i
http://www.lazarus.eurix.org
____________________________

"Valerio M" <chiedi@loa.me> writes:

> "virus" simply isn't an English word my friend...

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.

N'est-ce pas? :)

--
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