[Boatanchors] (no subject)

[Ron Youvan]

   Glen K9STH Zook wrote:

> Other operating systems (other than Microsoft) are just as prone to malware, etc.  It is just the
> fact that they are no where near as popular as the Microsoft operating systems and, therefore, the
> miscreants who attack the operating systems, who get their "jollies" from doing so, attack the
> Microsoft systems to maximize the effect.  As other operating systems gain in popularity, the number
> of attacks on those operating systems will increase.
> Glen, K9STH

   That is completely untrue and not possible.  I don't know where that lie came from, it does seem 
to be popular.

   I used Windows 3.1 then 3.11 until July 1997 when I upgraded to Slackware LINUX and I have been 
happily using it since.  I use Windows XP-Pro at work every day on 6 computers.  I hate it because 
is so slow at everything!

   *Only* the M$ operating system is designed to save a file on a hard drive and then execute it, 
(automatically) by merely "clicking" on a link in an E-mail or in a browser. (and other ways) 
That's how you "get" a virus.
This is because when you clicking" on a link in an E-mail or in a browser the M$ operating system 
hands the link to the general operating system's parser, if it has an executable extension (there 
are about 10) the general operating system gets it and executes it.

   If you download a file with LINUX it can be saved, but LINUX (like all *nixes) saves it as a 
non-executable file, the extension is irrelevant, as all *nixes do not use the extension for 
anything.  For a virus (or any file) to be made executable, someone with more authority than a user 
must change the "execute" attribute bit for that file (in the disk's directory for that file) and 
that won't happen, it is proven to not happen.
   Unix was developed about 9 years before Micro$oft was created.  LINUX is a clone of Unix.
   When MS-DOS was developed that basic security measure was avoided for some reason.
-- 
    73 Ron KA4INM - All E-mail sent to this address shall linger in the Google cloud forever!