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this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2024
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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On the one hand, if any commercial store put out a statement like this and did no vetting of submitted applications people would (rightly) be up in arms. But on the other, this is pretty much the standard with FOSS, right? Unless you’re paying for a supported commercial license from someone like Red Hat, everything is as-is, without warranty, caveat emptor. The power of open source is that anyone can review the code and look for problems or malicious behavior, but also (especially with smaller projects) there’s no guarantee that anyone else has looked at the code. So is it a best practice with Linux and FOSS to run a system backup before installing any software or update? I mean I guess that’s technically true for any OS, but especially for open source?
I would just be mindful of independently generated content. A backup will not help you if your computer is in a bot net
Why would a backup not help with a bot net? Shouldn’t rolling the computer back to its state before installing the malware remove it? (This is a genuine question; I’ve had very little exposure to actually using Linux but am interested and will probably install it on a machine someday)
Botnets work as background malware, most people never realize they're infected, as opposed to in your face malware like ransomware.
Backups are only relevant for malware if you can pinpoint when the malware was installed and the backups aren't compromised.