Why Linux and Unix-based systems are less vulnerable

One of the myths frequently propagated by Microsoft apologists goes like this: “Sure, Windows users are plagued with viruses, worms, trojans and other nuisances. But that’s only because Windows is the dominant system. If everyone used Linux, then the world would be full of Linux worms, viruses and trojans”.

It’s a superficially plausible line of argument, but wrong, because it ignores the architectural differences between different types of operating systems. Linux/Unix, for example, allows users much less freedom to inadvertently trash the entire system (though they may make a mess of their home directory). Linux email is less vulnerable to malicious executable attachments simply because the business of handling attachments is more fiddly and not just a matter of click-and-regret. And so on. There’s an interesting and useful essay in The register about all this.