Sounds like you rely too much on hiding in the crowd for your security. ("Maybe the lion will eat one of the OTHER wilderbeasts!") On the internet, the benefits of that are quite limited. After all, your server has one of a bazillion possible IP addresses, and that doesn't provide much security, now does it?

Really, being one of the possible twenty different types of *nix is not much better than being one out of two or three possibilities. If the lion wants you, he will find you, either way.

So, without giving up any REAL security, we gain a better support infrastructure, better cross-compatibility, etc. Instead of building compatibility for N different configs, development resources can focus on one or two. It's a big win for *nix users across the board.



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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/86/12918#12918