Why is Linux virus rare?

Why is Linux virus rare? -- Linux general technology-Linux technology and application information. For details, refer to the following section. Many people may hold this idea that Linux virus is rare because Linux is not as popular as Windows. In fact, this idea has been refuted for a long time. One of the most powerful arguments is: if a virus writer writes a Windows virus because of the large number of Windows users, most servers on the Internet are based on Unix/Linux. Is it more destructive to attack these servers?

To infect executable files with a binary Linux virus, these executable files must be writable to users who start the virus. This is usually not the case. Generally, the program is owned by the root user, and the user runs the program through a non-privileged account. Moreover, the less experienced the user, the less likely the user has executable files. Therefore, the more you do not understand this dangerous user's home directory, the less suitable for virus reproduction.

Even if the virus successfully infected a program owned by the user, the task that it further spreads will be very difficult due to the limited permissions of the user (of course, this argument may not apply to new Linux users running a single-user system. Such users may be careless with the root account ).

Linux network programs are built conservatively, and there is no advanced macro tool that can make the current Windows virus so quickly spread. This is not an inherent feature of Linux; it is only a reflection of the differences between the two user bases and the successful products in these two markets. The experience learned by observing these issues will also be used in future Linux products.

Linux applications and system software are almost all open-source. This has two impacts on viruses. First, the virus is hard to hide in the middle of open-source code. Second, for viruses that only have binary data, a new compilation and installation will cut off the virus as a major transmission path. Although the Linux publisher also provides a large number of binary software packages, most users download these software packages from the reliable software warehouse provided by the publisher. Most of these software packages have md5 verification mechanisms and are highly secure.

Each of these obstacles is an important obstacle to the successful spread of viruses. However, when we put them together for consideration, the basic problems emerge.

A computer virus, like a biological virus, must spread at a rate higher than its death rate. The obstacle mentioned above effectively reduces the breeding speed of Linux viruses. If its reproduction rate falls below the threshold required to replace the original population, the virus's fate is doomed from the very beginning-even before potential victims are aware of them.

We didn't see a really crazy spread of Linux viruses, because none of the existing Linux viruses can thrive in the hostile environment provided by Linux. The existing Linux virus is only technically curious. The reality is that there is no active Linux virus.

Of course, this does not mean that Linux viruses will never become popular. However, it does mean that a successful Linux virus must be well developed and innovated to survive an unsuitable Linux ecosystem.