this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2025
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Hi there,

Win10 is soon not supported. Tbh Linux have been on my radar since I started to break from the US big tech.

But how is security handled in Linux? Linux is pretty open-source, or am I not understanding it correctly. So how can I as a new user make sure to have the most secure machine as possible?

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[–] Wfh@lemmy.zip 6 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Honestly, Microsoft is one of the most active participants in the shitty fascist dystopian surveillance shitshow in the us right now. It's not that it "might not be better", they are literally one of the worst.

Open source doesn't work on trust, it works on scrutiny. Which is much easier to do when everything is open and therefore auditable. The threat model is very different, and the mitigation process is much faster since thousands of companies, including the biggest ones, need a secure Linux to run all their servers.

Open source software security issues comme mainly from :

  • plain old bugs like everything else
  • supply chain attacks (Example), which are actually very difficult to pull off since they tend to actually fail because of said scrutiny

What open source software won't do because doing so would immediately kill a project:

  • deliberate backdoors "for law enforcement" like most commercial platforms
  • invasive telemetry/spyware
  • Microsoft Recall that literally records and stores indefinitely absolutely every single interaction you have with your computer
  • basically everything that's deliberately harmful to privacy and/or security
  • enshittification to maximize profit since there is basically no financial incentive and no venture capitalist behind distros