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Comment by blahbl4hblahtoo | Hacker News Reader

I'm not a MS employee or even a stockholder. I just get tired of the group think around here. It doesn't do anybody any good to let some of these "everybody knows" style truisms pass unquestioned.

The accusations of being a shill are also pretty annoying...but hey...

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What do you need Windows for anyway? Especially in a "secure computing" context, modern distros are cheaper, easier and quicker to install than Windows, and yes, often more secure. Plus, learning GNU/Linux will make you a better programmer and a more capable team player. What do you have to lose?

Learning Linux makes you a better programmer? That's what I'm talking about in a nutshell. "Learning GNU/Linux" doesn't make one a better programmer. I'm not even sure how that's supposed to work...you know that there are really good programmers that use other platforms, right?

Ever heard the term, "don't knock it til you try it"? What do you have to lose by trying free operating systems? It costs nothing to run GNU/Linux in VirtualBox on Windows, and learning to interact with your machine from the command line will expand your skillset and your horizons, making you a better programmer and more valuable team player. Regardless, you're bashing people for using free operating systems in a security context, which is just asinine. This is not the holy war you're making it out to be.

Do you honestly think that I have never tried Linux? Seriously? The first time I installed Linux I had to download the floppy images over a 2400 baud modem connection to a bulletin board.

I'm not bashing people for using Linux...I'm saying that its not good security to say..."Linux is secure"...and not review your security needs from the standpoint of what you are actually trying to accomplish. I'm not making it out to be a holy war...I'm saying that people are just accepting that "Linux is more secure" on blind faith.

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