 So today, what I want to talk about is a very large misconception that kind of exists around the whole Linux thing, right? When people think about Linux, even if they don't use Linux, one of the things that they think probably is that it's more private than Windows or Mac. And I think that this is a very dangerous assumption to make because it's not always true. I'd say that it's hardly ever actually true. Now there are some exceptions in some places where obviously Linux does a way better job of not stealing and sending your data to some gigantic corporation. But just because Linux doesn't necessarily do all of the shenanigans that Microsoft and Apple do doesn't mean that it's the most private or secure thing in the world. It's not. So what I want to do today is kind of talk about this myth or this wrong-headed idea that some people have and just kind of discuss why it's so wrong and why it's so dangerous. So let's go ahead and talk about that. But before we do, if you leave a thumbs up on this video, I'd really appreciate it. It would really help the channel. So why do I say Linux isn't more private? Well, it can be more private. It doesn't mean that you can't make Linux as private as you want it to be. That's one of the reasons why Linux is so good. But out of the box, if you just go say install Ubuntu, which is what most people do who come to Linux, that's one of the first things that most people do is Ubuntu or Linux Mint or whatever, you've then stole this thing. And automatically you think, well, I'm more private. I'm more secure with my data. Well, no, you're not. OK, just because you have installed a open source program or an open source distro or whatever doesn't mean that your data is more secure than it was when you were using Windows. Now, it does mean that you're probably not the shill of a major corporation, most likely. I mean, we do have our qualms with canonical, but they're not as data hungry as say Microsoft, but your operating system still is insecure. If it's connected to the internet, it doesn't mean you can still go forth and download malware on your machine if you so choose to, or accidentally if you choose not to write, you can still do that. There is malware for Linux. It does exist now. Is it as prevalent as Windows? No, of course not. Windows is by far the larger target because more people use it. But that doesn't mean that it's not out there. You can still find malware for Linux. It happens. And that means that you can potentially see your computer and your data compromised, even though you're using the more secure operating system. So that is one area where Linux is and not as secure as some people think that it is. Now, like I said, Windows is by far the bigger target when it comes to malware. So most malware is written for Windows and probably for Mac too. As you know, combine those two, that's the vast majority of bad stuff out there. But Linux is very large on the server space. And that means that hackers and, you know, nefarious criminals out there have put effort into creating malware for those specific types of computers that run the world's internet, basically. And that stuff exists and can still be put onto your computer. And you created a botnet or whatever, you know, ransomware can be downloaded on your computer. If you click on a stupid link in your email address, it can happen. So just because you use Linux doesn't necessarily make you immune to viruses, malware, ransomware, what have you. So it can happen. And the idea that some people spread that it can't happen just makes it harder for people to protect themselves because they develop a false sense of security. They think that while I'm using Linux, you're not going to catch me with any ransomware or malware because it doesn't. I guess people told me that Linux is secure. Therefore I can just relax and visit whatever weirdo sites that I want to visit. I'm not judging you. You can visit whatever weirdo sites you want to. But just like on Windows, you do have to have some sense, some common sense when you visit stuff online, when you click on links in your email, you have to have some common sense. First off, don't click on links in your email. Just unless you know absolutely who it's from. And even then I would highly recommend not clicking on links in emails. It's just a bad idea all around. It doesn't matter what operating system that you're using. So that's one area where this myth has kind of developed and that's the reason why it's wrong. So another thing that I hear all the time is just that Linux is plain old more secure than Windows. Again, not true. It's just it's an operating system just like Windows is. Now again, for the most part, Linux doesn't have all the telemetry and back end wheeling, dealing that Microsoft shoves into Windows. That's true. But just because you're using Linux doesn't mean that it's automatically more secure. It still has flaws and bugs and security stuff that goes on in creating a piece of software as large as the Linux kernel. And people are out there who can take advantage of those holes and bugs in the imperfection of that code. It just can happen and it does happen. So a good example of this that I can give you is the meltdown inspector flaws that they were that were found in CPU architectures a few years ago that affected Windows, obviously, but it also affected Linux. That was something that had to be fixed inside of the Linux kernel in order to mitigate those vulnerabilities. It affected both operating systems and was equally as bad. Now, you could argue that Linux solved it faster or whatever. I don't know. But still, those vulnerabilities did exist on Linux, just like they existed on Windows and presumably Mac. I don't actually know that for sure. But you know, whatever, I say all this because Linux is a piece of software developed by humans that despite all appearances, Linux ColorVolds is a human and his team is made up of flawed human beings and they make errors. Sometimes, you know, they make mistakes or, you know, just because they're working with 30 million lines of code, you know, nothing there is possible to make perfection. It just doesn't exist. You know, it can't happen. It's just the nature of the being stuff goes wrong in that code and that that creates vulnerabilities and attack vectors and all the stuff that people can take advantage of if they have the nefarious mindset to do so. So just because you're using Linux doesn't mean that you're secure. It's just not true. It's a piece of software just like any other. And because that's true, it can have flaws. And the bottom line here is that instead of thinking yourself safe and secure by using Linux, what you need to do is just like you do on Windows, keep your head on a swivel, make sure that you're looking both ways before you cross the street, whatever metaphor you want to use. Just keep your common sense about you. Don't click on links in your email. Like I said, don't go searching for the latest malware on Discord and make sure that you keep your computer up to date. Make sure you restart every once in a while so that the new kernels can actually take effect, you know, do all these things to ensure that you're as safe as possible. Keep in mind that you're using a piece of software that's not secure because no software is secure by nature and you need to be able to keep yourself secure. It's your responsibility to do so, not the operating systems responsibility. So at the end of the day, the idea that Linux is more secure is false. But I want to go on to talk about privacy because I think one of the things that draws a lot of people to Linux is the idea that Linux is more private. And here's where we can all agree that it is more private than Windows out of the box. I think that that is not even arguable because Windows has all this nonsense going on in the background. They have advertisements and they have all this telemetry and all this stuff. And for the most part, Linux is free of advertisements and things that's going to take your data without you knowing and shoving it towards a large cooperation. For the most part, that's true. But telemetry does exist on Linux. It's just more front and center and much more in your control. So if you, for example, use the GNOME desktop environment, they collect telemetry if you allow them to do so. If you use KDE Plasma, they collect telemetry if you allow them to do so. Same thing at a distribution level. If you're using Ubuntu, they collect telemetry if you allow them to do so. If you notice the pattern, I kept saying if you allow them to do so. That's the difference between Windows and Linux. Whereas Windows, even if you turn off all those buttons that you see during Windows install and say, Hey, I don't want to send any of this data. Please don't do so. Windows is still going to send a whole bunch of data to Microsoft servers, even if you don't want them to. That's just the nature of the being. And if you want to try to rip all that stuff out, you can do so, but it's a pain in the rear end. And the next time they do a major update, it's probably going to be putting all back in and turned right back on. So that's just the nature of Windows. For Linux, if you tell them not to do so, they're not going to do it. And we can verify that they're following that rule because the code is open source and our developers probably smarter than you or me that have gone through and tested that and made sure that they're actually following the thing that they said they're going to do. So that's the difference between Windows and Linux. It doesn't necessarily mean that Linux is free of telemetry or data collection. It just means that you're more in control over those things that happen. It's just something that is absolutely true. You have the control when you use Linux whereas on Windows, you're basically renting it and the payment for renting that piece of software is your entire life story. So when people say Linux is more private, yes, I would have to say that Linux is more private but just like with the whole secure idea, you still have to be conscious of what you're doing and the data that you're sending out just because Linux is not the only thing you're going to be using. Like if you're just using the TTY on a Linux server or whatever, you're using a fairly private piece of software. You're probably not going to be sending out a lot of data to anybody. For the most part, it's going to be telemetry free. Obviously not going to see any ads unless you're using Ubuntu because Ubuntu puts ads in the terminal because it's canonical for whatever reason but you get whatever. But for the most part, if you're just living in the TTY, yeah, sure. That's really private. But once you get into the whole thing of using your computer, you're downloading a browser and you're browsing the web and you're downloading applications left, right and center and you're doing all of the stuff. The more connected to the internet you are, the less privates you are, right? Just because Linux is technically more private than Windows doesn't mean that you have privacy when you use Linux. It's not going to protect you from the likes of Google and them storing a whole bunch of cookies on your machine to track you all across the internet forever and ever. That still happens because you're using Google Chrome or you're using Firefox even because it still happens when you're using Firefox. So another thing a lot of us think that is, I'm using Firefox, therefore I'm more private. I have better privacy protection. Yeah, probably true. Again, then you're probably a little bit more private but you're still going to encounter cookies and trackers and all this stuff and that you've taken specific and painful steps to avoid those things on the internet, you're still going to be not private. That's just kind of the way things go. Any step towards privacy and security is going to require you to put in the effort towards those things. It's not automatic, which I think is the main point I'm trying to make here is that neither privacy nor security is an automatic thing. Even though you could argue that Linux is more private and secure, it's not automatically so. You have to put in effort in order to make it more private, more secure and that responsibility lies on you to do so, not on Linux itself. So at the end of the day, Linux is technically more private, not really more secure, to be honest with you. It's just, it's a piece of software. It's going to have the vulnerabilities that comes with being a piece of software. So just keep that in mind as you use Linux. Be smart about it. Keep your head on the swivel, like I said, and make sure that you're paying attention to the data that you're sharing and where you're sharing it. Take steps to avoid running into malware and adware and viruses. Even though you're using a more secure platform, technically, you still have to take those steps. So that's it for this video. If you have thoughts or comments on this, you can leave those in the comment section below. I'd love to hear from you. 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And I'll see you next time.