How come if I installed Slackware 3 years ago and visited the most questionable websites on the internet the computer still runs just like it did three years ago with no anti-virus BS or anti-spyware?

Everyone I know who uses windows complains that their computer keeps getting slower and the registry is messed up and they always want me to fix it and I'm like, "No way." I'm not wasting an hour downloading lavasoft and AVG and teaching them how to run it every week.

I mean I get the "only log in as root to install stuff" thing. So a regular user can't mess up the system. But is that the only reason Linux lasts forever? Is there some other secret?

I mean the spyware/registry issues/virus thing is such a huge deal and all the non-computer types always have such a big problem with it. Does it even have to be that way?

Sometimes I wonder if there's a conspiracy and the anti-virus companies pay Microsoft royalties to have holes in their system and Microsoft actually has a department devoted to writing mal-ware. That's sort of funny but I guess it's not true.

...or is it?

There are many threads about this same topic, for example:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...iruses-715409/

I have a hunch that most viruses which cause mass hysteria (e.g. this Conficker thing) originate in the basement of some AV software house somewhere.

I think it is true. Because, what would happen if viruses disappeared or if Window$ suddenly had way fewer security holes ? The AV companies would go bankrupt.

Probably it didn't start out this way. It started with Window$ being a POS and highly vulnerable to viruses. Then the AV companies provided a solution, and now they have to make sure they will be needed.

There are many other such relationships ... just take a look around.

Because there's hardly any malware for Linux.
That's smart, because it's a never ending story.
Plus, you cannot prevent Windows from getting slower (or with *a lot* of work), especially when you regularly install and remove software.
The Windows register gets polluted,that's one of the main reasons that the OS is getting slower and slower. Another one is that the more security tools you run, the OS gets slower too, they run constantly on the background.
Most Windows users are "admin" all the time (and don't even bother with a password...), so that's certainly a part of the problem.
MS makes people believe it's easy to run, configure and maintain a system.
It's not.
I don't believe that. MS couldn't care less if Symantec, AVG or whatever would go bankrupt. That's not their problem is it?
Do you really think they make their OS crappy so that other companies can profit from that?

Yes! Fellow conspiracy theorists! I love this forum. Whenever I make posts like that at gamedev.net I get attacked by MS Visual users.

...who are probably employed by Microsoft to browse all the forums and make pro-Microsoft posts.

You haven't read my post, have you?
Very probably...

Yeah I was writing my last post before yours was up I guess.

...all the conspiracy believers are Senior Members and Gurus. What a cool forum.

The major security flaw in Windows is that it defaults to running with root privileges. Even Windows 7 does this, and no, UAC is not enough to plug this MASSIVE security hole.

The first thing I do when I (re)install Windows is modify my account to a Standard User account. The vast majority of windows software actually runs quite happily from a Limited User account, and that that doesn't isn't worth the hassle. You can install most software and run most admin tools as Administrator from the "run as" option in the R-Click menu, so you hardly ever need to log into the Administrator account - almost like Unix and Linux, in fact.

Windows could save a lot of grief by causing the install to create 2 accounts by default, a user and an admin, instead of just an admin account.

Hi,

A lot of the M$ OS problems are related to Social Engineering not just open holes along with poorly written software. Loads of M$ users are tricked into opening or installing something without thoroughly investigating the software in question. Add to this the user privileges problem and you end up with a mess. I just repaired a laptop for someone who had trashed the OS and didn't know why the system ran so slow and not as responsive when it was new. They had attempted to install tool(s) without even reading the software installation instructions. More is better!

Really there were at least 3 AV tools installed neither of which was performing it's task(s). They just continued to install another AV since the others didn't work. Someone had told them to use joes AV and then someone else told them to use Bob's AV. So they just continued to install.

I just removed the hdd and used tools on another machine to edit. BTW, this machine was one that required the new user to make a recovery disk, no OS distributed. I told the owner to contact the vendor an demand a OS disk not a restore. Loads of people don't read the license. They just expect it to run ...

As for the support by third parties for AV or utilities. I don't fault them for making money on someone else's stupidity or insecurity. They are just feeding the frenzy. Someone in the basement of said vendors creating the problem is possible but I think there are enough people in the public domain that will accomplish enough problems to accommodate everyone.

Any system can be compromised. That's why you must thoroughly think out any install. Most are as strong as the person that installs them.

Yes, it's a conspiracy between M$, AV manufacturers, the Military-Industrial Complex, the Illuminati, and aliens from the planet XZHnurghritfl (4th planet orbiting 3rd star on the left 5 parsecs past Alpha Centauri, or thereabouts).

Hi,

I'll have to look into that left 3D sky frame to see the emission or HALO.

Fixed that for you

On a more serious note. If people where responsible when using a computer, most of this wouldn't happen. I believe the reason Linux seems more robust is because the average Linux user is much more computer literate than the average Windows user. Windows can be locked down just as tight as Linux.

A few years ago, my girlfriend could bring a Linux PC to its knees just as fast as any Windows machine. Now, she can install and setup Slackware on her own 98% of the way. I still have to configure a custom kernel for her.

There are 2 classes of PC owners. Users and admins. Admins can use and administrate, users can use, but should not be allowed to administrate.

When ever I fix a Windows PC, I always load antivirus and anti-spy/malware software, and create a bootable restore disc for the customer. 9 times out of 10, with in 6 months they come back to have the OS re-installed again. They've lost the restore disc, and when I check the logs for the spy/malware protection, it's been turned off and never ran. Plus the av software is out of date and disabled as well.

The biggest problem that windows has had is the legacy that until recently, it didn't have a stringent filesystem hierarchy. You had C:\DOS and later C:\Windows, but all the programs you installed could put their stuff wherever they wanted outside of that.

It's a lesson Microsoft have eventually learnt, they now have standard places where programs are meant to install to and also places where programs are meant to store their data and settings. Their first attempt at this wasn't that great a design but it was a step in the right direction ("Program Files", "Documents and Settings" etc.)

With Vista, it's been improved further (C;\Program Files, C:\ProgramData C;\Users\<username>\AppData... etc.) and it's looking much better. Of course, there's still typical Microsoft sloppiness at work here. "Program Files", but not "Program Data" (hint to Microsoft: Either use spaces or don't, but for Christ's sake keep it consistent!)

Once 3rd party developers learn to use this new layout, we'll have a much more resilient Windows environment on our hands as NTFS's permissions system can then be leveraged properly.

Now, my opinion is that it's quite valid to criticise Microsoft for taking so long to figure this all out and get it more or less right. I also suspect that the only reason they ended up getting to where they are now is by taking strong inspiration from what Apple had been doing with OS X (which is basically a modernisation of the UNIX model).

There have been some other serious blunders from Microsoft from a security standpoint: activeX in the browser, the madness that is autorun.inf (Seriously... What the hell were they thinking!) and hiding known file extensions by default being 3 of the ones that really stick out to me. A knowledgeable user can work around these 3 issues, but that doesn't help those less computer literate. Dumb OS design decisions certainly don't help these users, but most malware infections are self-inflicted, and that's what Antivirus products are there to protect them from.

A corporation with Microsoft's resources, both technical and financial, really shouldn't be needing to learn these sorts of lessons the hard way. That's my biggest criticism of them. Well, that and their general 'sloppiness' of implementation.

On the other hand, they do sometimes get the design right. The sound mixer in Vista, with individual sliders for each application is far superior to the steaming pile of poo that is currently ALSA.

All viruses are written by Al Qaeda hackers supported by anti-capitalist communists protected by the Mexican drug cartels. That's why we need to be vigilant and continue waging never-ending global war.