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this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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Privacy Guides
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Read that Wikipedia page from yourself. Anti-virus is recommended by the quoted Scott Granneman for Samba servers, NFS servers, and Linux mail servers. For desktop use, Linux has a clear advantage compared to Windows.
As long as you keep your packages up to date, don't install random packages found online, and don't run random scripts, desktop Linux is very secure. No one is using a zero-day to target your home office computer behind your router's firewall unless you're a high value target.
On the other hand, Windows users almost have to install software from the wider internet. Windows also doesn't have an easy way to keep everything updated. Your PDF reader could have a known vulnerability for a year before you finally update it. Add to the fact that Windows has more desktop users and is thus a bigger target for desktop-style malware, and the difference isn't even close.
Most users do not need anti-virus on Linux.
Precisely because you'd be scanning for Windows viruses on those mounted drives and emails! :-D
Yeah probably lol. If it's a Linux virus that you can detect with a scan, then there's probably already a patch ready (or coming very soon) to fix the vulnerability. I could be wrong on this though.
Same with windows, Android, iOS, etc.
Not sure when you last used windows, but there's a built in store for most mainstream software, and I'm sure most games come from steam.
Yes, you can download your random exe files, which will trigger warning prompts when you try to run them.
So, failing all warnings, it's possible to install malware on windows. The same could be said for any OS.
If you want to keep Windows secured like Linux, you would create a non-admin user account, which will not install or change system settings/files, without the admin (root) access.
That said, I don't disable the built-in antivirus or firewall in Windows. 😬
Windows is the only OS listed where you almost need to break those rules. You can't easily keep software updated and basically need to install software from outside the store. Only winget and choco are promising in this regard, but these are power user tools. MacOS, and even many Linux distros, ship with a graphical app store that keeps packages updated.
On Android and iOS, most users can get away with never installing an app outside the Play Store or App Store. The app store keeps the apps updated.
Unless all you're doing is web browsing, the Windows Store doesn't contain nearly enough software. Users of Windows need to be used to installing software outside of the store. How many Windows PC's have never run an exe or msi?
Perfect example. I need to find, download, and run an exe from a website to install Steam. Having this be a normal procedure that a user is used to doing is horrible for security.
I mean, basic users really wouldn't need anything outside the Microsoft store. And modern users tend to use their browser more than anything else (fortunately or unfortunately).
It's got pretty much everything covered, barring some very specialized software. Heck, even stuff like Firefox and OpenOffice are there, but obvious M$ would prefer you use their own browser and office suit.
Certainly games are probably easier through the Xbox app in windows (or the store directly), and the play pass Microsoft offers makes it really easy to play without having to install a third party game store.
If someone wants a Linux experice on Windows, I'm saying that it's quite possible.
Now, I won't for a second defend all the telemetry, ads, bloat, and forced Microsoft crap. For that, Windows is indeed worse.