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Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

I don't see the Linux eco-system as being more prone to malware and trash than the so-called curated app-store.

> Or how about it's along the vast majority of the people merely wanting the police to guarantee safe cities?

Which more often than not includes being safe from the police, and that's where the problem lies. This sort of power is bound to be abused.

> "No matter what the context" is BS. I presume you lock your house doors or wear a safety belt -- sacrificing freedom of movement for more security.

Interesting. I've lived in places where unlocked doors were the norm, the village where I live (20 Km from Amsterdam) still has plenty of unlocked doors. People wear safety belts because there are no downsides and because they are required by law so that stretched analogy doesn't hold.

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"I don't see the Linux eco-system as being more prone to malware..."

Did you count Android amongst Linux? It is after all...

Only developers without Android experience think that.

Android is all about Java.

The NDK is there as layer for implementing Java native methods, games and high performance audio, and general purpose native libraries from other OSes.

This is what you are allowed to call from C and C++ on Android:

https://developer.android.com/ndk/reference/index.html

https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/stable_apis.html

Trying to call anything else terminates the application as of Android 7.

https://developer.android.com/about/versions/nougat/android-...

As of the upcoming Android 8, calling syscalls outside of what libc requires leads to application termination as well.

https://developer.android.com/preview/behavior-changes.html#...

Basically nothing really UNIX specific and could be implemented with any other kind of kernel (hence Fuchsia).

"Only developers without Android experience think that."

Think what? That Linux is malware-free? If you're addressing me only, I'm just asking for clarity on the dataset in question, not expressing an opinion about the safety of the platform.

No, that Android having Linux as kernel is actually relevant to Android programming.

Given the OS architecture Google can easily announce a version using other kernel, given that there is very little UNIX specific on what can be done with public NDK APIs.

Only those customising Android builds would be impacted.

I meant to say irrelevant, edit does not work any longer.

That's disingenuous. The fact that the Linux kernel powers Android is totally besides the point.

The Android eco-system does everything it can to bury the fact that it uses Linux under the hood, and it is relegated to the role of a fancy HAL.

The main reason Android has more malware than other kinds of Linux is because Android is extremely popular. Malware writers just target the systems with the most users so they can have the biggest impact.

> I don't see the Linux eco-system as being more prone to malware and trash than the so-called curated app-store.

What was it people used to say about Apple and he perceived lack of viruses and malware issues? Security through obscurity.

> I've lived in places where unlocked doors were the norm, the village where I live (20 Km from Amsterdam) still has plenty of unlocked doors.

Arguably that experience is an edge-case, at best annecdata.

> People wear safety belts because there are no downsides and because they are required by law so that stretched analogy doesn't hold.

If they are required by law, does that not limit your freedom of choice? Does this not stretch your own limited analogy?

>I don't see the Linux eco-system as being more prone to malware and trash than the so-called curated app-store.

An estimate 99.99% of the Linux software I use is from a curated repository. Yes, I could just download src.tar.gz and ‘make install‘ but I prefer the safer more convenient alternative.

Meanwhile curl | sh appears to be trendy.

Not only curated, but likely curated with a bias more restrictive than Apple's own bias with the App Store.

And yet, I can install stuff from anywhere on Linux.

It is the inability for mortals to install stuff from anywhere but the App store that causes the curation policy to be an issue.

Every human can install any code they want on their iPhone for quite a while now.

Every human is mortal.

Thus unless you were implying non-human mortals, your point is stale and no longer valid.

Somewhat off topic but I would consider seat belt laws to be part of the police state. Shouldn't it be my personal choice to wear it or not?

It's debatable.

When you are in a collision with out a seat belt more often than not your body becomes a 100 pound plus projectile going at non trivial speed that could easily kill some one.

Consequently even libertarians might be for seat belt laws (unless of course you are on private roads).

I'm not sure of the accuracy, but I've also heard it argued that you're much more likely to regain control of a vehicle after an evasive maneuver, since you will stay in your seat.

It's not. A federal/state law is a law. You are compelled to do something that may be against your wishes. Whether or not it is a good thing is neither here nor there! To spin the debate, apply the same for drug laws, or substance control.

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