3 months ago
7
Nasty Linux Bug, CVE-2024-1086, is on the loose
I thought we'd fixed this, but recent reports indicate it's alive, well, and screwing systems over everywhere.
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https://opensourcewatch.beehiiv.com
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Every few years someone creates a virus to take down Linux,and of the 20 years I've used Linux distros,I've never seen Linux taken down,or been infected,so I ignore the threats.
A very long time ago (maybe twelve years?) I've been reading an interesting article about virusses on Linux, but I cannot provide a link. As far as I can remember it stated that most virusses that are coded/written are for Linux. The goal of it was to harden the kernel (and software) against those kind of attacks and virusses. Which partially explains why Linux can withstand so much digital violence in the first place. Also, the open source nature is a good angle to subvert those kind of attacks.
I would like to have a link to that article again, since it was very informative on the subject and in ways an eyeopener.
If you go to old as dirt websites like Ubuntu,Linux Internationals and Linux mint you will notice everyone ignores these scary stories. In a nutshell,from what I remember is you have to give the problem instigator root. Without root,they can do nothing. I only give root to one other person and he is an old friend who helps me now since I have developed vision problems. I don't need virus protection since only this person and I get root.
A bit off-topic, but nonetheless interesting: do you use (any of) the accessibility tools available for pretty much all distros?
All I need now is crl scroll. My problem is developers decided,forget when,to make the interface of newly installed distros too small for me to read and the mouse too small to see. So my friend has to make text larger and the mouse larger. Once that is done,I'm fine. But I really hate all this ":trendy" nonsense like black with white text,or grey text on a white background and of course microscopic print.
User Interface design is a trade on its' own. I understand what you are talking about and it should be considered by distro-builders and software programmers alike that there should be clear options given during or at the start of an installation. Many Linux distributions have quite alot of options to use after the installation, some even during. I use Arcolinux for the moment and it asks during the install whether I would like several packages for other/better accessibility. I do not know this from other distributions, but I reckon that there are options to do it afterwards. Most distros are easy to adapt to someone's needs, which is a big plus on the proprietary software, where it is harder to adjust the software.
A few years back I had to adjust a tablet with Android for someone who is visually impaired. Text-to-speech and vice-versa were easy to implement, but enlarging iconsets and the screen were a bitch to do. Most software became unusable to the point that I gave up. I thought that was so sad for the person in question, but there was nowhere to go. Android's kernel is Linux-based, but the rest is, again, proprietary, so no tinkering allowed.
While many Linux distros are quite easy to adapt to someone's needs, it still needs close attention to keep it that way and improve on it even more. And UI-designs should be made that way, that adjusting it never takes away usability. It's always a delicate balance, but simple design rules should be kept in place: contrast, readability, scalability and text alternatives are very important, but lots of times forgotten. Programmers are not designers and alot of designers are unaware of that important part of their work.
My own site is completely doable with text-to-speech, every image has an alt-tag, the colours are clear contrasts and the menu is text-based. It's a little extra effort to make it that way, but it can go far. Most complex problems, like being visual impaired, can be (partially) overcome by simple solutions.
I don't need text to speech. It does bother me that developers never stop and think that not everyone has normal vision.