, 2004-07-01
The curse of complexity is the bane of every security administrator, so UNIX users take your pick: would you like BSD or Linux?
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Dont forget about Macs!!
2004-07-02
Anonymous (2 replies)
Anonymous (2 replies)
If you want to flame about BSD and Linux, you can always post on Slashdot, but if you're going to write an article for Security Focus, I would have hoped that you would include a few facts.
The article swings between extreme arguments for and against homogeneity, confuses the debate over command-line vs. graphical administration with the choice of OS (Linux and BSD both stem from and support a strong UNIX tradition of non-graphical administration), OS complexity, end-user complexity and application choice. It even drops the GPL vs BSD license issue with a quick nod to the complexity of the GPL, but no indication of why that should be a problem, and especially why that should be a problem with respect to security!
I don't even know what to say... it's just bad. I'm sorry to Mr. Miller. I know I'm being quite harsh, but I feel I must. I'm a BSD user from the 80s and though I use Linux today for just about everything, I have a strong fondness for BSD still. This kind of bad writing in its defense churns my stomach.
You want a defense of BSD with respect to security? Here it is: BSD is not Linux (though some of the parts are in common). BSD is not System V UNIX or its derivatives (though some of the parts are in common. This means that the continued use and strength of BSD and its approach to system software represents a diversity of operating systems that thwarts one-size-fits-all attacks and provides an alternate medium in which to cultivate the best security practices.
Notice that I was able to make a strong argument for BSD without having to be divisive or paint some other open source OS as a villain.
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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/252/27382#27382