this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
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[–] [email protected] 97 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Also keep in mind that the main reason Windows is targeted for so many exploits is because of the consumer market share. If Linux consumer market share goes up, so will general malware targeting it. We already saw it happen when OSX share increased and Apple had to abandon the whole "Macs don't get viruses" schtick.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

We already saw it happen when OSX share increased and Apple had to abandon the whole "Macs don't get viruses" schtick.

It's kinda crazy that Apple got away with spinning "Our products don't sell well enough for this to be a problem" into a marketing point for as long as they did.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I assume they said it was due to other reasons than obscurity, although we know better.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

It was due to other reasons, too.

One of the main malware vectors back then was Internet Explorer (and specifically ActiveX), Outlook Express, and MS Office macros. That's not just a matter of obscurity; it's because Microsoft specifically wrote very shitty software with no regard for security. Netscape was not nearly as exploited as IE even when it was the leading browser.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Apple always does that. After iAds failed, they pivoted into advertising a privacy focused ad campaign to counter Google. Had iAds succeeded, they'd be perfectly fine into getting into that business.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago
[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Linux has had a long history of worms and viruses, fortunately (sorta) thanks to its server legacy. Dumb and lazy server admins have given it pretty good 'secure by default' behaviours and cultures.

Desktop users though: whole different set of challenges.