is red hat safer then winxp
 

is red hat safer then winxp

wow, thats a loaded question.


Either are only as safe as the administrator behind the keyboard.....

A very patched WinXP with an up to date firewall and a very good, tight firewall, with users set as users and not admins, with sites that will give spyware blocked, with XP and software configured to be safer is perfectly safe - as long as your user doesn't download anything damaging.

On the other hand, RH, patched and behind a firewall is also very safe - as long as you're not running as root.

It would help if you let us know what configurations you are thinking of, or is this just a 'general' question?

I would have to say it could go either way. Security is only as good as the dumbest user on the network. I could spend hours and make a windowsXP machine and a linux machine just as tight. But if a user comes along and installs something they shouldn't or starts tweaking settings then its all in vein. :D

Security is not always just about hardware and software :) As Khabi said, it's the user as well. Yay social engineering!

The server admin has the most responsibility for not only locking down his/her network, but instructing the users on what and what not to do.

Remember, the safest box is one that isn't powered up!

-- Poetics