Why Open Source?

[aku]

i have been having this question in ma mind for a long time.. but havnt found a acceptable answer to it. So fellas.. here it is -->
Any GNU/Linux distro is an OperatingSystem consisting of the linux kernel written by Linus Torvalds and mostly free apps which make up the whole distro. And as its under the GNU licence, thus its completely free and is open source sw( we can modify it if we want and get a deeper knoledge about how a program works).
Now the the main question is.. if linux as a whole is open source and any one can download the source of the kernel as well as other apps.. then why dont we see uber ammounts of viruses evry single day... why a linux user isnt afraid of opening any email attachment. Why thousanad and thousandz of security patches arnt released every month?
Well hacking, cracking, exploiting and defacing any linux box should be relatively easier than a win box as windows is a closed source os while Linux is completely open to any one interested!... Why do servers run on linux when they r sure that the distro they are running , its whole dissected anotomy is just a download away...
Just cant solve this equation.
So OPEN Brains.. do you have an acceptable answer to my query?

P.S. And please no Mass Bombing Theory or sumthing like that.. i want the ans from the tech aspect of it... and not jus any logical theory.

 

[gary4gar]

i think this can help

 

[JGuru]

@akuCRACKER, Windows has got the lion's share of the market, also Windows is very
insecure!! So the Virus-writers & hackers exploit Windows & it can affect millions of
Windows users!! Linux on the other hand has less percentage of users compared to
Windows. You should also understand why I told Windows is insecure. Hackers & Virus-writers
know Windows O.S inside-out!! They are highly successful since there are lots of
vulnerabilities in Windows. The hackers & virus-writers don't need Windows source
code!! They exploit Windows with trial & error method looking for vulnerabities!!

 

[mediator]

1. Viruses :
See dude first u shud know how a virus works. U shud know how it works in windows. Its relatively much easier to destroy a windows pc with a virus as u might know much better than me. For linux, u can download the viruses on ur machine and see their source code to gain ur knowledge . The only virus that can affect a Linux machine is a dangerous shell script. But even so, it will need execution rights, executing it manually and that too as root. Who will permit it execution rights before actually seeing its source code? Even if soeone gives it the rights, manual execution may only do a little damage and that too the normal user account. The admin just needs to remove that account and create a new one instead. If something suspicious is sensed, a smart linux user wont even allow it to be run as root. So u see the "levels of security"?

All the softwares in linux can be run, without finally installing them as root. I mean, just do the "make" thing and run from its directory. U dont necessarily need to do "make install" from root to run it. So u see, root is only meant to administer the system. All ur work can be done via norma users account. Linux is like a lizard, where normal accounts are like tail of that lizard. If u destroy the tail, it will grow again. But to kill the lizard, u need to destroy its heart.

For mails, I guess above explanation was enough. Security patches are released for linux too. But its not like windows, that u can't achieve freedom without the patches. I have fedora. In mah 2+ yrs of linux, I installed FC3,FC4,FC5. I never applied patches. But see I never experienced any problems yet. Well one things fun to know about is that if MS releases 3 updates in 6 months, then fedora releases a new upgraded distro in 6 months!

2. Cracking
Linux,unix,BSD etc are all primary server OS (though linux is geting popular as desktop OS too). They are given more preferences. If an OS experiences several test then ofcors its bound to get secure. See urself UNIX was created in 1960s and since then tests were conducted on it. Wont that make it a hell lotta secure? Its the most stable OS in the history of computing. And for server, hacking,cracking,exploits are taken into account to make it secure. Thats why linux is damn secure. Its actually all depends on the kernel to be straight. Linux has a monolithic kernel and windowss has/had a microkernel. Means all the work can be done by a linux kernel alone. Microkernel doesnt do much work and 3rd party apps are needed to do all the work.

Neways for hacking the source code, yea if root access if gained by a cracker in any OS even in UNIX then the system can never be trusted. But to gain that access is the main challenge. Its virtually impossible in the present era. The security levels have been increased to highest levels. Only extreme crackers can do that. I think if ur natural and extremely good then everything is hackable for u. I also believe everything on NET is hackable, but it depends on ur expertise. But now look at windows just one fiddling around can crash the whole OS then Forget about stealing the information.

And now seeing the whole such scenario, u can urself see how much improvement the OPEN SOURCE faces. The crackers are there, but cracking is a low level activity. The real challenge is hacking and securing the networks and servers. Hackers themselves try to hack their linux servers 24/7 in any possible way. Since the source code is OPEN and available to all. Millions of geeks,system developers and programmers from around the world keep on finding the exploits and flaws and keep sending/sharing their reports. So u see how much security and stabilty is added to an OPEN source software or an OS. In windows source is closed. Only the developers at the MS centre can see the exploits. While the number of crackers out there are much larger than them. They keep on destroying the OS.
Even u urself can see the OPEN source software. If u fin vulnerabilities u can fix them right away. U can't do that in windows can u? And if the vulnerabilties keep on getting reduced, then how will the cracker destroy an OS?? Remember Linux has its roots from UNIX. Destroying it (and similarly any other OS) is a child's play if u gain root level access, but u will be considered as GOD if u can hack the root by urself !

Neways install latest linux distros. U'll know all about it urself!

 

[subratabera]

Excellent!!!

I am using FEDORA CORE 5 for about six months and never opened windows since then except for playing games. It is far more secure and efficient than windows. I have no antivirus or firewall installed on my Linux system and the default firewall is doing its job perfectly. Also the KDE has far more features than any other desktop environment. Linux is becoming a true desktop OS rapidly...

Subrata Bera.