278
submitted 2 years ago by voxel@infosec.exchange to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
all 19 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] free@lemmy.world 52 points 2 years ago

what are people doing w there win PC and tor browser? u ain't secure/private if ur on windows....anyway...🤷 *Linux gang

[-] Car@lemmy.dbzer0.com 99 points 2 years ago

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

Windows might not be the ideal privacy solution, but it’s often not something that people can reasonably change.

It takes work to relearn an operating system. People’s work applications may not function outside of windows. Virtualization and emulation are not perfect.

[-] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 2 years ago

I’m so glad yall found yet another “windows bad Linux good” avenue.

[-] azimir@lemmy.ml 14 points 2 years ago

This one's not really new. It's essentially the basis of the entire FSF manifesto and the purpose behind the GPL in the first place. If you don't have the source code to your tech, you have no real idea what's happening to your information while you use it.

Adding a TOR layer on top of a black box OS might provide some privacy for your network traffic, but the system calls being called by the browser are inherently untrustworthy to begin with.

Or, to sum up "Proprietary untrustworthy, open source more trustworthy," which still isn't as pithy as your quip.

[-] zwekihoyy@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago

there is little difference between "open source but you need formal education to be able to dig through and understand the documentation and code" and closed source. open source is still better for ethical reasons but for 9/10 users, it's not reasonable to check the source code and they are losing any potential "security" benefits that was provided.

[-] CausticFlames@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 years ago

You are correct for open source projects with only a few maintainers... But with a project as big as linux, there are SO many people with that "formal education" (which doesnt really even need to be formal) that the amount of eyes on the codebase DOES benefit the normies who dont look at it.

[-] zwekihoyy@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I 100% agree, I just think it's dangerous rhetoric to push because you end up with normies that have been told "open source is more secure" and end up running any script they find on GitHub without having a clue how to audit what it's actually doing. (this was me 5/6 years ago until I figured out what I was doing).

this is the same reason I find people claiming that Linux is more secure than windows dangerous. I can exfiltrate data from the average Linux install much easier than windows. you can harden Linux to a much greater degree but if you don't know how or that you even need to, you are in a much worse position.

[-] CausticFlames@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 years ago

I disagree that you are inherently in a worse position simply because you dont know enough to take a peek at the code or harden things. I think that again, simply being such a massive project linux gives a trickle down effect to normal users. Even as a normie, you are safer on linux than on windows, full stop. As for github scripts, thats an entirely different subject because yes, open source CAN be dangerous still (just like proprietary can).

[-] zwekihoyy@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

what makes you suggest you are safer on Linux?

[-] voxel@infosec.exchange 10 points 2 years ago

@free Yep, thats why people invest a lot of time which have much more technical understanding than you have to create products to improve the privacy problem on Windows, Privacy isn't a privilege which only a specific group of human is allowed to have, Privacy is a human right and should be accessable for everyone. If you miss the understanding for that, I would recommend informing yourself better then spreading false information.

[-] KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago
[-] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 years ago

idk m8, wut r u doin w ur pc tho

[-] zwekihoyy@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Windows default are more secure than Linux my guy

[-] jmp242@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 years ago

You're going to need to specify what Windows and what distro at least. But I would argue that most people's idea of computer security would include privacy. Not that they get it, but if you asked someone if they feel Facebook posts are secure because others can't edit them, I think you would get some head scratches and people saying they are available to the world.

[-] Isoprenoid@programming.dev 12 points 2 years ago

Microsoft: Cool, now we know what communities care about Tor on our OS. Time to pass this info onto the alphabet groups.

this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
278 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy

40451 readers
357 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS