If you're an expert on something, you might submit a paper to a conference or to a scientific journal.
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Switched from Macbook Pro to Framework?
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DankeBrutus
macrumors regular
I remember when this happened. It isn't as simple as "Linux libraries unsafe" though. IIRC the person who inserted the backdoor in XZ worked for a long time to gain trust with the maintainer and did do actual work on the utility before breaking bad. What is frustrating about this, and obviously big kudos to the MS dev who found it, is that XZ is used all over the place, including major corporations like Microsoft, yet just one dude was the primary maintainer. They weren't receiving either financial or developmental assistance from any of the companies who relied on the software, I don't know if this has since changed.
Unsurprisingly, if you open a port to the internet you open a port to the internet. /s
This isn't true either. First, if nothing on your machine is listening on either of those ports external traffic has nowhere to go. Second, even if you have SSH listening on port 22 bots would still need to either exploit it, not impossible but unlikely, or know your root username & password. Relatively basic security hygiene resolves this.
capamac
macrumors 6502a
When I was in college there were a couple of assignments that specifically stated the report was to be turned in electronically as a Word document. That's the only time I ever *had* to use Word. I typed the document on my Mac using TextEdit, then I went to the campus computer lab (which had Windows machines with Office) and cut-and-pasted the report into Word, formatted it a bit, and saved.
But most of the time, like for all my personal use, I have absolutely no need at all for Office.
But most of the time, like for all my personal use, I have absolutely no need at all for Office.
The MacBook is my favourite Apple device but I am quite disappointed at the direction in which macOS is heading. You can add iOS to that too.
I bought a dedicated Linux laptop last year and it has quickly found its place in my life. If Apple continues on its downward spiral then I might 1 day use Linux exclusively.
As for Windows it is complete trash and should be used in no greater capacity than a Virtual Machine.
I bought a dedicated Linux laptop last year and it has quickly found its place in my life. If Apple continues on its downward spiral then I might 1 day use Linux exclusively.
As for Windows it is complete trash and should be used in no greater capacity than a Virtual Machine.
Why don’t you open the port and direct it to Linux machine. I have done it plenty of times as honey pot. It’s not very hard to get exploited, you would be surprised how may bots from all over the world are constantly scanning IPS for vulnerable ports. I deal with Linux every day.
This is exactly the attitude that gets companies and people get hacked or vulnerabilities are exploited.
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Yep. I run containers on my Linux workstation, can’t beat Linux when it comes to virtualization/utilties.
DankeBrutus
macrumors regular
This is what I do with my VPS. Yes port 22 gets a lot of attention and my Fail2Ban log shows it. However, I also don't allow password authentication. Bots would need to exploit OpenSSH or somehow get my private key.
That’s how they get in by exploiting vulnerabilities in certificate management. And is your VPS Linux desktop or hardened Linux? Don’t even get me started TLS/SSL vulnerabilities in libraries that accept forged certificates. And how many regular users harden certificate management with rotation of certificates. It all adds up when you have to manage Linux desktops.
lostPod
macrumors 6502a
I agree. Even though I would like to completely get rid of Adobe, I cannot it seems. I still pay for the photographer sub that includes Photoshop. I have switched to Affinity for Illustrator needs, however -- I find their pen tool to be more superior. Also, the new (free) Affinity standalone software that combines all of their previous builds is incredible. BUT I can get stuff done extremely quickly with Photoshop as I have used it most of my life, as opposed to Affinity where I still have to stop and look up how to do certain things. The last "lifetime" licensed Adobe software I have is CS6 which cannot run past Mojave, which is a bummer (I still have two older Macs that I have it installed on, but they are dogs compared to my M4 Macbook Air and my M2 Mac Mini). I kinda wish I was running Windows back then as I belive Windows CS6 can still run on Windows 11? I dono where I was going with this post LOL.
DankeBrutus
macrumors regular
There was an OpenSSH vulnerability patched out earlier this month that was able to use a comma in `authorized_keys` to get root access. My VPS is just Ubuntu server LTS. I'm looking forward to doing the 26.04 upgrade.
If a bot exploits my VPS they don't get anything valuable, which is why I have no problem opening port 22 and doing the basics for security. My threat level is very much on the low end. It would be a different story for a computer on my LAN. Port 22 is open on those but not my router, I use a VPN for SSH for my home servers. I have my Linux desktop at home but the only thing I forward to it is a port for Call of Duty when I'm booted into Windows.
It's worth noting though that I do agree with you that desktop Linux sometimes involves correcting bizarre decisions. Like Ubuntu not shipping with UFW enabled. At least Fedora Server has firewalld installed with a sensible "block everything incoming," but desktop Fedora has the default config basically allowing everything through it. On a desktop behind a router...eh...that's probably okay. But on a laptop? That's a concern. It reminds me of macOS not enabling the firewall by default. It makes me scratch my head.
Your post made me remember a time when we *had* to turn something in in Power Point (decades ago). I hand drew the diagrams and charts in about 10 minutes, then took a photo and imported the photo onto a slide, and submitted it. (at the time I was s-l-o-w in drawing things in powerpoint and I hated sitting at a screen). My instructor gave a look when he saw what/how I submitted. But the info was all correct.... 😉
Yep. It just wasn’t a security vulnerability but lingered around for 15 years. That is one of my frustrations despite enterprise subscriptions to keep up to date with Linux security. There are too many unknowns.
OpenSSH Flaw Allowing Full Root Shell Access Lurked for 15 Years
An OpenSSH vulnerability introduced 15 years ago could allow attackers to obtain full root shell access to vulnerable servers.
The desktop version of most of linux flavors aren’t as secure as Linux servers and need hardening.
My MBp/Laptop is lot more high value because it has my emails business documents and I use it for banking sites.
Bottom line if you use Linux you need to be ready to spend time reviewing vulnerabilities and often mitigating with manual steps.
Linux desktop versions have one thing going for them. There are very few users to exploit all the security flaws open for years compared to windows or mac.
dmr727
macrumors G4
Yeah, it was BS. There's no good experience to be had using Adobe products, regardless of hardware. 😉
Let’s not delude ourselves into believing that Linux is commercially viable for big companies to develop for. We know that the majority of Linux users don’t want to pay for software and they openly gloat online about piracy and encourage others to pirate software. If you’re a big company you’re not going to put millions of dollars annually into developing for and support Linux when the users openly spit in your face and steal from you.
It’s sad because the Linux space has so many open source developments but it is also a highly toxic and cult like community who do not like to contribute to economic growth and don’t understand trade and economics.
It’s never going to change. Pointing at DaVinci Resolve as an example isn’t evidence of industry support. Blackmagic has hardware to sell. They are a hardware first company.
Sure but I’m not giving up 100K a year in income just because some random unemployed neet on the internet told me to use Linux and Wine with a pirate copy of Affinity on a fragile Framework computer.
capamac
macrumors 6502a
If the "AI" bros are correct, in a few years anyone even those without any programming experience will be able to just ask their "AI" to create any Adobe- or Microsoft-level application in a few seconds.
If they're right, then every softare company in the world will pretty much go bankrupt.
If they're right, then every softare company in the world will pretty much go bankrupt.
dontwalkhand
macrumors 604
I hate to be that guy who says ecosystem. But ecosystem.
But if it works for you it’s no skin off my back. I will keep my Mac.
But if it works for you it’s no skin off my back. I will keep my Mac.
I really don't get why you would run Linux on the desktop.
I was a massive Linux user back in the day, to the point of running Gentoo on all my machines.
But honestly, Linux had its moment to shine at one specific point in history and it failed: The period between Windows 98 coming out and XP being released.
Pre-NT Windows was a house of cards and completely frustrating to work with. Remember having to reboot to change network settings or after installing a program?
But of course a bunch of nerds didn't have the ability to come together to create something truly usable, and embarrassingly enough that is still the case. It's been 20 years since I last used Linux in a serious manner. Still, I occasionally install Linux distros in VMs to see how far they've come, and I'm always surprised at the lack of progress.
On a recent foray a year or two ago with a supposedly user friendly distribution, the App Store of all things was broken out of the box. Overall, though the entire user experience was clunky and awful. Surface-level GUI polish does not make a usable OS.
And even now there are little things like the stupidity of naming schemes. Like, how could you seriously turn around to a normal person and say to them "Oh, you don't need Photoshop, try The GIMP!"
Yes, everyone loves to **** on Windows, but it's relatively usable and has sensible software packages, even if it is bloated.
I was a massive Linux user back in the day, to the point of running Gentoo on all my machines.
But honestly, Linux had its moment to shine at one specific point in history and it failed: The period between Windows 98 coming out and XP being released.
Pre-NT Windows was a house of cards and completely frustrating to work with. Remember having to reboot to change network settings or after installing a program?
But of course a bunch of nerds didn't have the ability to come together to create something truly usable, and embarrassingly enough that is still the case. It's been 20 years since I last used Linux in a serious manner. Still, I occasionally install Linux distros in VMs to see how far they've come, and I'm always surprised at the lack of progress.
On a recent foray a year or two ago with a supposedly user friendly distribution, the App Store of all things was broken out of the box. Overall, though the entire user experience was clunky and awful. Surface-level GUI polish does not make a usable OS.
And even now there are little things like the stupidity of naming schemes. Like, how could you seriously turn around to a normal person and say to them "Oh, you don't need Photoshop, try The GIMP!"
Yes, everyone loves to **** on Windows, but it's relatively usable and has sensible software packages, even if it is bloated.
Sully
macrumors 6502
Can you elaborate on this?
I’m considering adding a Linux laptop to my tech stack for travel to replace an iPad that I carry attached to a magic keyboard case. I’m doing this mainly to experiment with privacy software and degoogling etc. But, also because I want the tinkering.Of course, the laptop needs to function for business stuff equally as well as the iPad.
In my research as to whether or not this is a good idea I’ve gotten the idea (maybe wrongly) that if you keep your distro updated, use a firewall, only install software from official repositories, and don’t run as root for daily use, Linux is equally as secure as MacOs or Microsoft. And, that a novice running a mainstream distro like Ubuntu, who keeps it updated and doesn’t install software from random sources, is adequately protected against realistic threats without doing much beyond those basics.
I’m trying to make an informed decision before I do something stupid.
ProbablyDylan
macrumors 68040
Easy: I don't want Windows 11.
Not super thrilled about macOS but man did Apple build a fine laptop. Can't wait for the Asahi people to announce progress on M4.
See few posts above on vulnerability where an attacker can exploit OpenSSH and get root access. It’s game over if you are connecting these laptops to public networks when traveling. That vulnerability existed for 15 years. Official build isn’t gonna help you there. And Ubuntu doesn’t update like Apple or Microsoft. I have enterprise subscription and it’s not uncommon when there is no patch but bunch of manual steps to secure your Ubuntu.
I wouldn’t recommend Linux on a laptop, the harsh reality is windows security is much better if you want to move from mac.There are way too many critical vulnerabilities (CV) that get detected and need manual hardening or steps to mitigate those CVs on Linux. I run Linux on my workstation because it’s in a secure zone and never goes out of the room.
Random sources or reputed package manager source in Linux world doesn’t really make huge difference like installing from Apple App Store or windows store. Lot of these libraries and dependencies are abandoned with no fixes. And this is true for homebrew on mac and npm installs.
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capamac
macrumors 6502a
Huh my view of Linux (been a Linux user to varying degrees since 1999) is that Linux is better shape now than it ever has been.
Linux as a gaming platform has really started to take off.
The installers are easy enough for a beginner with little computing knowledge.
The default GUI is easy enough for a beginner to use.
In the news, there's been more than a million people installing the Zorin distro: In wake of Windows 10 retirement, over 780,000 Windows users skip Win 11 for Linux, says Zorin OS developers — distro hits unprecedented 1 million downloads in five weeks
Linux is improving at the same time its competitors are embracing enshizzification.
Linux culture reminds me of Apple II culture. That same attitude.