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Subscribe!Wed - Feb 18, 2009 : 12:37 pm
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Thoughts on Open Source
I was recently reading this article about yet another virus which affects Microsoft. In reading it, some of the comments below stated such things like, "The patch was already released, so just run your auto-updater and be done with it!". Seems logical, right?
Yeah... Actually, it does. The exact same mechanism exists in pretty much every flavor of Linux I've ever seen. Code has bugs - it's a fact of life.
The problem I have with Microsoft's approach is two fold:
Those things bother me.
If a vulnerability is found in Linux, I am depending on thousands of programmers all over the world to write a patch for me - and if they can't, then I can write my own. If I can't write my own, I can find a programmer and pay him or her to write one for me.
I guess the open source approach gives me options, while the proprietary, closed-source approach gives the owner of the code options (and nobody else).
Sure, the home-user isn't going to pay to have a patch written, but if I'm running a business, and 100% of my revenue comes from a vulnerable computer, you bet your bootie, I'm going to want to have at least some options open to me, rather than waiting around for a patch.
Anyway, I've just been thinking a bit about technology, and the whole M$ approach to software development bothers me enough to make me use Linux 100% of the time, at work, home, and on the road. Linux is far from perfect, and to be honest, some things about Linux have been bugging me lately.
I've got to say, although Linux isn't perfect, the 5-second thought of going back to Microsoft, with all its problems, make the imperfections of Linux seem a lot easier to deal with.
Been using Linux exclusively for 5 years now, and yeah... They've been 5 great years.
Yeah... Actually, it does. The exact same mechanism exists in pretty much every flavor of Linux I've ever seen. Code has bugs - it's a fact of life.
The problem I have with Microsoft's approach is two fold:
- Of all the viruses created, far more of them affect Microsoft systems more often than Linux - far more. Reasons be what they may, this is a fact. Whether it's security through obscurity, or a better core kernel, or whatever. Microsoft has to deal with many, many, many more viruses than Linux.
- When I'm running Microsoft Windows, I am completely, 100% at the mercy of programmers working for Microsoft. If they can't get a patch written in time, and I'm hacked by a virus - there literally is nothing at all I could have done to prevent it, short of turning the machine off, or physically disconnecting it from the network.
Those things bother me.
If a vulnerability is found in Linux, I am depending on thousands of programmers all over the world to write a patch for me - and if they can't, then I can write my own. If I can't write my own, I can find a programmer and pay him or her to write one for me.
I guess the open source approach gives me options, while the proprietary, closed-source approach gives the owner of the code options (and nobody else).
Sure, the home-user isn't going to pay to have a patch written, but if I'm running a business, and 100% of my revenue comes from a vulnerable computer, you bet your bootie, I'm going to want to have at least some options open to me, rather than waiting around for a patch.
Anyway, I've just been thinking a bit about technology, and the whole M$ approach to software development bothers me enough to make me use Linux 100% of the time, at work, home, and on the road. Linux is far from perfect, and to be honest, some things about Linux have been bugging me lately.
I've got to say, although Linux isn't perfect, the 5-second thought of going back to Microsoft, with all its problems, make the imperfections of Linux seem a lot easier to deal with.
Been using Linux exclusively for 5 years now, and yeah... They've been 5 great years.