Linux only makes up about 2.18% of the desktop market share and when you write malware just like writing any other type of program it typically doesn’t work the same way on all operating systems at least not with the same exact binary.
To create application for Linux or the Mac OS you have to generate a binary specifically for it that’s why they are distributed differently for Linux, Mac OS and Windows with different file extensions.
Why Linux is not exactly an OS
Technically Linux is not an operating system because an OS manages hardware and software resources and it provides common services for computer programs. There are several components of an operating system that together make the different parts of a computer work one of these key components is called the kernel. Linux fits the full description of a kernel which is the core program of an operating system.
Linux is the most widely used free and open-source kernel. Android, Google’s mobile operating system is also based on the Linux kernel and most of internet servers also use the Linux kernel as it is a very versatile piece of software that helps power millions of devices.
Why Linux is Relatively Safer
The main thing that makes Linux so secure is that it just isn’t worth it for most people to actually hack it since so few people are using it and the few people that are using it are a bit more tech savvy and less likely to get infected with malware in the first place. If both have equal users would Linux still be more secure? Yes!
In windows software can be downloaded from any source and people generally don’t bother the check it ether.
Most Linux users however download their packages either from the terminal or a GUI interface that basically does the same thing as the terminals package manager and in order to get malware in here you would have to get it past the administrators that maintain that specific repository as well as all of the other users on Linux that are using these programs you’d have to get it past them somehow sneak that malware into there which is also going to be really hard as everything is open-source.
A malware can’t really harm you unless your system is actually vulnerable to the malware which is where the real problem lies with Windows and Linux shines bright because a lot of these exploits take advantage of vulnerabilities that are in the kernel.
The Linux kernel is open source so if you were to discover a bug in the Linux kernel you could patch it yourself assuming that you know the proper programming languages or you could report it and then somebody who does know the proper languages could take care of it.
In Windows the kernel is locked down and because Windows is basically the corporate operating system a lot of these kernel bugs really can’t be fixed because then they would break legacy systems old corporate systems from decades ago that companies have paid Microsoft quite a bit of money to ensure that Windows will continue working with their systems.
Which Linux are known as Canoe
In 1991 many developers began combining the Linux with a free and open-source operating system called canoe, replacing the kernel that canoe was currently using they did this because of the functionality and benefits that Linux was currently offering its users that canoes kernel at the time was lacking the popularity of this new operating system. So, Linux like fedora, ubuntu, mint etc comes under Canoe.
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