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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Are there any examples of Linux (desktop) viruses that are actively or were recently in circulation? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 6 days ago by monovergent@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Or historical exploits/trojans/etc. that deserve more attention? I've mostly heard about lucrative vulnerabilities that concern Linux servers, but what about the end-users on desktops? Or is the Linux desktop market small enough that we mostly just see one-off instances of users blindly running malicious scripts?

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[–] greywolf0x1@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 days ago (2 children)

that Wayland’s design does make it more difficult for a user-mode program to act maliciously,

Sorry, can you tell me more about this?

[–] SmoochyPit@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Sorry for the late reply. Also @Cricket’s response is great and actually references a source!

Anecdotally though, as a user, I’ve noticed that some things require extra permissions. Usually there’s a prompt from the operating system that’ll ask for permission capture the desktop, which lets me specify which window or monitor to share. It uses the “XDG Desktop Portal”, which was already what allowed Flatpaks to securely access OS resources, and it has a whole bunch of different requests for resources and permissions. It’s similar to a web browser, where it’ll prompt you for privileges when an app wants them.

The hardest pain point for me has been that an app cannot detect keyboard input if it isn’t focused. This could prevent key loggers, but it also makes global shortcuts not work. There is a protocol that allows an app to request a key be forwarded to it, but it’s not widely implemented in apps (discord, for example) and I’ve had to rely on workarounds.

[–] Cricket@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

I found this: https://www.linuxmo.com/wayland-vs-x11-the-battle-of-display-protocols/#penci-Security_and_Isolation

Wayland: Wayland’s architecture enhances security by isolating applications from each other. The compositor enforces stricter control over what an application can access, reducing the risk of unauthorized data access and improving overall system security.