this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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<Or are we just presuming we're all immune from the bad guys targeting Windows?>
Yes, I find that does tend to be the attitude among most Linux articles/videos/etc I see on the subject. There's some truth to it, in that from what I understand Linux is immune to much of it, but it's not entirely true. Malware for Linux does exist, so IMO people should not be as complacent about malware as many seem to be, but the community based open-source nature of most Linux software helps mitigate it SOMEWHAT (NOT entirely, because it's dependent on trusting the community to both want to defend against it and have the skill to do so). Unlike Windows malware defense (to a degree, Windows patches have gotten leagues better than in the past), the primary way Linux stops malware is removing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. It's another reason you won't see nearly as much Linux malware showing up as on Windows: it can't spread if there's no exploit to spread through. I do still run Clam and a firewall primarily for my own peace of mind because on my system aside from Clamd using a crap-ton of RAM they don't really slow it down to a visible degree. Long story short, Linux malware is indeed much rarer than Windows malware, but it does exist and I'm not keen on Linux media people giving the impression that security isn't something to watch for with Linux for the average user.
The biggest threat on Linux is social engineering. It doesn't take much to get someone to open a file on Linux.