When talking about security it would be negligent to not talk about the pair of Linuses most commonly associated with that warm, comfortable feeling of being safe.
Our first example is Linus Van Pelt. Linus may have appeared to be insecure in light of the fact that he carried a blanket around with him from day one. However, one only needs to look at his relationship with his sister, Lucy, and the community at large. If ever there was a natural leader, I think it was Linus. But the blanket does pose a bit of a problem. I think perhaps that Linus’s blanket is a symbol of how even those that are fearless, sometimes need a little bit of reassurannce. I see the blanket as very much so like those little signs that tell people you have a car or house alarm. They don’t really do anything except tell people not to mess with you, because you’re already prepared.
And our Other Linus is, of course, Linus Torvalds. Linus, in case you didn’t know, is the fellow that gave the world the Linux OS, more or less. It’s really difficult to say just how much security was on Torvalds’s mind when he started work on Linux. In fact, I’d say it’s probably a safe bet that Torvalds was initially just screwing around when the idea started to work out.
But Linux, and the whole Open Source thing, is an interesting concept. If you give something away, it can’t be stolen. Which is certainly one form of security. However, Linux is also known for that other type of security. You know, the one where viruses don’t descend on your computer every second and try to steal your credit cards and corrupt all of your data. I won’t even pretend to know just how well Linux works for that. My only real forays into Linux use has been on Live CD’s. I do know that you can’t have a Live CD with Windows or Mac, and that the concept is damn handy at times. It’s certainly one way to make certain that your programs and OS will never be attacked by a virus, even if your files are.
So, when you’re looking for security, look for a Linus, they won’t lead you astray.
Elsa | 08-Mar-07 at 11:30 am | Permalink
Much like a towel