I'm a business major in college. I figured out that with what I want to to do for a living, a business degree will be better than a computer science degree.
The problem with being a business major in the United States is that the colleges here only recognize the existence of one operating system (okay, they do use Macs for certain programs, but not in the college of business). So for my degree program I am required to take a class that teaches how to use the components of a Windows computer system, unless I can test out of it this morning.
I have problems with that, both as a class and as a mindset. First as a class.
I know that most of the world is using Windows. And I know that most companies that business majors go to work for use that operating system. But I don't. I use Linux. That is all I will ever use again. I have installed over a dozen Linux operating systems, and I have used several others without installing them. I have tried out three or four (it is hard to keep track exactly) different types of Linux systems, from Ubuntu to Fedora to Salix. I am going to be building my own Linux operating system this winter (if you are interested, watch for an announcement here). And my business will not only run exclusively on Linux (even my web site is hosted on a Linux server) but is all about helping people make the move to Linux.
So I do not need to know the other operating system for work. I will not be using it. Which brings me to the whole mindset behind colleges teaching only that operating system. Already not everyone uses it. I do not even use their office suite. I am using Openoffice until Libreoffice is ready for prime time. It is free, it will do all the same things, and it works. So I do not need the expensive office suite that so much of the world seems tied to. But I have to take a class on it (actually another, because it was also required at the community college) unless I can test out of it.
And I have to know the components of the expensive operating system to test out of the class. I should do okay on the operating system, they are testing me on the version that I used for about two and a half years before I switched to Linux.
But whether I pass the test to skip the class or not, I still disagree with the school teaching only that operating system. And making the class about it mandatory for business majors. It is another piece of the domination of the computer world. And I do not think that they should be allowed to require that I take a class on a system I am never going to use again.
Update: So I passed the test to get out of the class. But I still think it is a horrible requirement, and a further detriment to our culture and country that Microsoft maintains such control and influence in our colleges and Universities.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Security
Linux is a very secure operating system. I have been using Linux for just over a year and I have not had a virus or spyware infection. Nor have any of the people I know who use Linux.
Estimates of the number of viruses that have ever been written for Linux vary, but the number that I have seen most is around five hundred. About five hundred viruses in the nineteen years since Linux was started. Some operating systems are tested by five hundred viruses a day.
Also, of those five hundred, I have read that over ninety percent of them were created in a laboratory environment specifically to test the security of Linux.
Even if viruses were out there for Linux (and I will not claim that there are none, but I do not know anyone who has gotten one), they would have a lot of trouble infecting a Linux computer. There are several reasons for this.
One of the biggest obstacles for a virus on a Linux computer is the fact that most of the time the user is not signed is as the administrator. The default for Linux is to sign in as a user, not as administrator (called root user in Linux). One popular operating system automatically signs a person in as administrator unless they take the time (and know that they need to) to set up separate user accounts. A virus cannot do very much if it is not allowed into the operating system. And Linux users have to give it specific permission.
Another obstacle for Linux viruses would be the difference in the way Linux operating systems handle software, or packages. Debian, and the operating systems based on it, including Ubuntu as well as all the operating systems with which I deal, uses .deb packages. Now, if you do not know much about Linux, that may not mean much to you, but it is important. Because software cannot work on a Debian or Ubuntu based computer unless it is in the right format.
And .deb is not the only format. Red Hat operating systems, including Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS, and others, use .rpm packages. They work differently and they work only on the systems designed for them. Slackware Linux uses something else, and other Linux versions use something else.
The point of all that information is that even if a virus is written for Linux, it may be written for only one kind of Linux packaging system. A virus packed into a .deb will not do anything on a system designed to use a .rpm. And a .rpm virus won't affect a system that uses .deb. They could not get in because the operating system would not have the software to install them.
So to affect as many Linux users as possible, a person writing a virus for Linux would have to write several different versions and put it into several different packages. And then a Linux user would not only have to open it, but then enter their password to let it in.
There are other reasons a virus is unlikely for a Linux system, too. But this post is long enough already. I may write more about it later. Or someone may put something in the comments that helps. Just keep an eye out.
Estimates of the number of viruses that have ever been written for Linux vary, but the number that I have seen most is around five hundred. About five hundred viruses in the nineteen years since Linux was started. Some operating systems are tested by five hundred viruses a day.
Also, of those five hundred, I have read that over ninety percent of them were created in a laboratory environment specifically to test the security of Linux.
Even if viruses were out there for Linux (and I will not claim that there are none, but I do not know anyone who has gotten one), they would have a lot of trouble infecting a Linux computer. There are several reasons for this.
One of the biggest obstacles for a virus on a Linux computer is the fact that most of the time the user is not signed is as the administrator. The default for Linux is to sign in as a user, not as administrator (called root user in Linux). One popular operating system automatically signs a person in as administrator unless they take the time (and know that they need to) to set up separate user accounts. A virus cannot do very much if it is not allowed into the operating system. And Linux users have to give it specific permission.
Another obstacle for Linux viruses would be the difference in the way Linux operating systems handle software, or packages. Debian, and the operating systems based on it, including Ubuntu as well as all the operating systems with which I deal, uses .deb packages. Now, if you do not know much about Linux, that may not mean much to you, but it is important. Because software cannot work on a Debian or Ubuntu based computer unless it is in the right format.
And .deb is not the only format. Red Hat operating systems, including Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS, and others, use .rpm packages. They work differently and they work only on the systems designed for them. Slackware Linux uses something else, and other Linux versions use something else.
The point of all that information is that even if a virus is written for Linux, it may be written for only one kind of Linux packaging system. A virus packed into a .deb will not do anything on a system designed to use a .rpm. And a .rpm virus won't affect a system that uses .deb. They could not get in because the operating system would not have the software to install them.
So to affect as many Linux users as possible, a person writing a virus for Linux would have to write several different versions and put it into several different packages. And then a Linux user would not only have to open it, but then enter their password to let it in.
There are other reasons a virus is unlikely for a Linux system, too. But this post is long enough already. I may write more about it later. Or someone may put something in the comments that helps. Just keep an eye out.
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