[vox-tech] linux and viruses

[Cylar Z]

Hi,

Hope this isn't too inappropriate for this list...feel
free to chastise me if it is.

Here's the skinny. I'm trying to get my systems
administrator (at work) to let me connect a laptop to
his network so that I can surf the web at lunchtime.
Now, the sysadmin is strictly a Microsoft man and
knows nothing at all about Linux. He has balked at my
request because while he is worried that I might
inadvertently bring viruses/spyware/malware onto his
network. It turns out that he was not even aware that
Linux can speak TCP/IP and supports DHCP client
networking functions.

I tried telling him that my laptop will be running
some flavor of Linux (most likely Fedora Core 4) and
that Linux is virtually impervious to viruses. It
hasn't swayed him. 

I guess my question to you all is this: Did I make a
true statement? Is Linux really virus-proof? If so, is
it just because of its relatively small share of the
OS market, or is there a more technical reason for
this? If so, what? If I told him one, it might get
through to him.

And what about malware? Is Linux resistant to that as
well?

Think of this as an opportunity to further infiltrate
Microsoft's domain. Help me explain to my admin why
attaching a Linux client won't hurt his network.

Thanks, Matt



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com