Why no viruses in Linux ???

[vk85]

why there are no viruses in linux even if it is open source ??
but in windows we have so many viruses even if its source code is not open

[John E]

The viruses aren't "in" Windows. Viruses contain executable code which can be run under Windows. Virus writers target Windows because their aim is to spread the virus as widely as possible. Since Windows has easily the largest market share, it is the most obvious platform for a virus to target. There's no reason why viruses couldn't written for other OS's. But if a virus writer wants to spread the virus as quickly as possible, Windows is the No 1 target.

[WizBang]

It is also well known that windows is not as secure as Linux, or the Mac OS either. Perhaps an equally important question is why so much of the market is taken by the more vulnerable OS.

[NoHero]

It is also well known that windows is not as secure as Linux, or the Mac OS either. Perhaps an equally important question is why so much of the market is taken by the more vulnerable OS.

Linux is not as much safe as windows. The points are:

• Security bugs in Linux are faster detected and fixed of course it is OpenSource.
• The Linux communities mainly contents of hackers who don't want to have their OS damaged, so why should they write a virus for it? Writing a virus for Linux (and well their exists some) would make you the public enemy of the Linux Hacker community. And well... Windows does not have a community of egoistic, ignorant and overbearing guy's who would do that all for their OS. (There are also some nice non-arrogant, non-ignorant and non-overbearing Linux users of course)
• The same for MacOS.

[NoHero]

The viruses aren't "in" Windows. Viruses contain executable code which can be run under Windows. Virus writers target Windows because their aim is to spread the virus as widely as possible. Since Windows has easily the largest market share, it is the most obvious platform for a virus to target. There's no reason why viruses couldn't written for other OS's. But if a virus writer wants to spread the virus as quickly as possible, Windows is the No 1 target.

Well... I wouldn't underline it because a Virus (exploit, wallhack, DoS leak etc.) are limited to a specifid OS only. A Windows virus is written for Windows to damage Windows and their users.

[vk85]

The viruses aren't "in" Windows. Viruses contain executable code which can be run under Windows.

But why not code that can execute in linux ????

[wildfrog]

Take a look at this:
http://search.symantec.com/custom/us...rity%2FContent

- petter

[John E]

But why not code that can execute in linux ????

Viruses can be (and are) written for most OS's - but the ones that spread the fastest are the ones written for Windows. This isn't because Windows is any less secure than other OS's - it's simply because Windows users make up about 97% of the world's computer users. If 97% of users were using Linux, then most visruses would be written to run under Linux.

However, as others have pointed out, it is relatively quick to plug loopholes in Linux because Linux is open source and has a relatively small market share. If, like Microsoft, you've got 97% of the world market, that makes it a very big task to distribute updates.

[WizBang]

Interesting that Symantec uses a Netscape-Enterprise server

[WizBang]

Linux is not as much safe as windows. The points are:

• Security bugs in Linux are faster detected and fixed of course it is OpenSource.
• The Linux communities mainly contents of hackers who don't want to have their OS damaged, so why should they write a virus for it? Writing a virus for Linux (and well their exists some) would make you the public enemy of the Linux Hacker community. And well... Windows does not have a community of egoistic, ignorant and overbearing guy's who would do that all for their OS. (There are also some nice non-arrogant, non-ignorant and non-overbearing Linux users of course)
• The same for MacOS.

Well, I'm sure I won't be the only one to take issue with those statements. I'd say that you are refering to the nature of the spreading of a virus, not the ease of creating one. Also, windows users suffer from viruses mostly because of other software like ie and outlook. Take those two out of the picture and things change quite alot.

Attacks on Linux and Mac servers happen all the time, but they don't seem to get compromised as much.

Here's an interesting article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10...ndows_viruses/