The Linux Extremist

Like many people using ADSL, I decided to be cheap and not fork over extra money for a fixed IP address. In retrospect, this was probably a mistake. I recently had difficulties because of what the previous owner of my IP address had done with it, though probably not intentionally. I found that my IP address was on a black list at Spamhaus, the organisation that keeps track of addresses which push out unwanted e-mails.

It’s not at all surprising that I would get an IP address of this kind. In June 2006, Microsoft found that some 5.7 million PCs were infected with malicious software which had turned the computers into “zombies”; i.e., the PCs were under the control of the hacker who had infected them. The zombies were then used to initiate sending spam or denial of service attacks.

The idea of a group of hackers being able to reach out and control my PC is not a pretty one. It was bad enough when they could make it impossible to work; in the autumn of 2003, my company was infected with a virus that would automatically shut down a PC as soon as it booted up. It was spread through networks and not everyone had the sense to yank out their Ethernet cable in time. It was only through the efforts of a QA person who was studying to be a support technician in his spare time that we got up and running again in only a few hours.

Adware provides an additional annex to the chamber of horrors; when I had a Windows PC, I used to somewhat amuse myself by using Spybot Search and Destroy and seeing what my PC had become infected with next. Fortunately, I never used it for anything serious, like putting in personal details; I had it just to play Rome: Total War until the pain of Windows outweighed the advantage of the game.

Zombies, viruses, adware, spyware: a Windows PC is not one’s own. The strange thing is not that Microsoft refuses to learn from their mistakes; given their history, this is not unexpected. What is strange is how many people simply put up with it. In 2004, the market research group IDC estimated that Windows share of desktop PCs would fall by 2007, but that fall was only to 94%. So what is perpetuating this ‘Net of the Living Dead?

Part of is undeniably Microsoft’s aggressive strategy in dealing with hardware vendors and the fact that people aren’t necessarily looking for an alternative when they should be. However, part of the blame lies at Linux’s doorstep; its strengths, being Open Source, translates into a weakness, namely, there is no marketing department with the same muscle as Microsoft to get the word out. Linux advocacy has a role to play in this; it requires that users who have benefitted from the Linux Revolution ensure that its message spreads to those who are unaware of it. If you see someone ditching a spare PC, show them how Linux can revive it. If someone has had a computer that has become hopelessly infected with viruses, show them the superior performance and security of the Linux way. There is an element of self interest in doing so; so long as we are encumbered with the ‘Net filled with zombies oozing their own brand of pestilence and gore: overstuffed inboxes, awful denial of service attacks and also crowded out bandwidth will be a plague. If the Linux Revolution succeeds, this may enter into the realms of the past; and then maybe, I can send my e-mail without anyone thinking I’m advertising Viagra.

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