Linux security is a "myth", claims Microsoft

[Arta]

I find that pskill usually lets me kill things that task manager refuses to do.

[Zakath]

And I can't remember the last time I had that problem (I *have* had it, but it's so ridiculously rare as to be discountable). Does this happen to you frequently? If so, you might want to examine why those processes are running in the first place.

[iago]

Other control I enjoy on Linux is the ability to delete files that are running or open, if you're root

[Zakath]

Ah, yes. That's always fun. Yesterday I deleted a program I had running, logged back in later, and it struck me that I hadn't killed the program. Sure enough, there it was, chugging away. Definitely an amusing (and useful) capability, but also dangerous if you aren't careful.

[Adron]

You can delete open files on Windows as well actually, if file sharing isn't blocking it. Linux needs to enable file sharing specifically?

[EpicOfTimeWasted]

Nothing in the computer world pisses me off more than when I try to kill a process in Windows, while logged in as Administrator, and Windows flatly tells me "No!"  Instead of arguing with me, it should kill the process and let me, the Administrator, deal with any of the after effects.  My FreeBSD box will let me do whatever I damned well please when I'm logged in as root.

Ok, I'll admit this was a badly written post.  My point was more about the level of control that a unix-based system offers, more-so than when Windows decides to not let me kill processes (since it doesn't happen overly often, just at the most inopportune times).

[Grok]

Always continuing to offer another viewpoint of the same situation:

Then in the context of security, one could say that your system does not secure its stability very well against the mistakes of the administrator, compared to Windows, which may offer more protection of files and processes it views as important to the overall system health.  Depending on how you define stability and security, one could say that.

[iago]

Generally on Linux, if a file is open then it's locked to a normal user/the owning user.  Root, however, really does have full control.  Root can write to kernel memory, or delete any locked file, or whatever it wants to.  It can be very dangerous, of course.  Root can do plenty of damage.

[Thing]

My two copper on this subject.

Weak passwords and stupid people are the greatest computer security threats.  Brute force and social engineering are by far the easiest, fastest ways to compromise a network.  Why spend all day jacking with trying to crack a box when you can call up some dumbass inside and get them to tell you their password?