[SOLVED] LinuxMint is safer than Windows (for newbies)

[carum carvi]

LinuxMint is less safe than Windows for newbies, because LinuxMint does NOT warn during or after install that one has to create a standard user account.
Windows DOES warn. And Windows DOES offer a menu to create a standard user account.

Everything that DOES make LinuxMint safe is the fact that you should use it as a standard user, NOT as an administrator.

I am a newbie. Even after half a year of using LinuxMint I still DO NOT understand why the creators of LinuxMint DO NOT ADD a simple warning (for newbies) that one has to create a standard user account for safety after installing LinuxMint.

[austin.texas]

I think you are projecting the deficiencies of Windows onto linux, and your conclusions are a bit off.
The administrative user in linux is protected by the requirement to use an administrative password for systematic changes. That is not at all analogous to the Windows administrative user.

[catweazel]

NOT
DOES
DOES
DOES
NOT
DO NOT
DO NOT ADD
one has to create a standard user account for safety after installing LinuxMint.

There's no need to shout and your observations are way off track. A user account is created during the install, not after.

[sebastjava]

I agree with austin.texas. Also, MintUpdate lets you select from different policies. MintUpdate is that little icon on the right side of the control panel, at the bottom of your screen. You can select the safest policy: it will only show you the safest updates. I think i remember being offered that choice when installing the system. You can change it later, of course.

[Arch_Enemy]

LinuxMint is less safe than Windows for newbies, because LinuxMint does NOT warn during or after install that one has to create a standard user account.
Windows DOES warn. And Windows DOES offer a menu to create a standard user account.

Everything that DOES make LinuxMint safe is the fact that you should use it as a standard user, NOT as an administrator.

I am a newbie. Even after half a year of using LinuxMint I still DO NOT understand why the creators of LinuxMint DO NOT ADD a simple warning (for newbies) that one has to create a standard user account for safety after installing LinuxMint.

I dunno where you got that.

The account you create during installation IS a standard user account.

You have to create a ROOT account if you want an account with root privileges. And that is a bit difficult by design.

If you have administrator privilege by default you have to change the user account so you have to use the sudo command to get that access.

[Jim Hauser]

A separate user account has never been created on this system for four years. In the future it might come in handy for troubleshooting something but for now everything is just fine.

There has never been any anti-virus or anti-malware on this system. My only security is an external firewall/router, Linux Mint itself and a little common sense. This system has never been compromised by outside sources.

For newbies I would say that Linux Mint is much safer than Windows from the word go.

[BigEasy]

Everything that DOES make LinuxMint safe is the fact that you should use it as a standard user, NOT as an administrator.

At first glance it is seems you never installed LM by yourself and never know who is user. User is YOU! newbie serena is user his of own computer and his own OS.
Account under which user newbie serena is working right now definitely is not root. Account created during installation. Account is "sudoed". It means that account can do sometimes and something as root. Software updates, for example. But not by account's wishes. By YOUR wishes and intentions. Did you trust yourself? It not then... hard to say what to do. Regardless windows or linux.

[karlchen]

You have to create a ROOT account if you want an account with root privileges. And that is a bit difficult by design.

Sorry, no offence meant, but that statement is simply incorrect. The user account root is present on every single Linux Mint system. You do not have the choice of creating it or not creating it. It is present all the time, and it runs most of the systemwide processes.
Creating an account named ROOT is possible, but will not make any difference. It would be just another (normal) user.

[karlchen]

Everything that DOES make LinuxMint safe is the fact that you should use it as a standard user, NOT as an administrator.

newbie serena, this is a typical misunderstanding, when switching from Windows to Linux (Mint).
The term administrator is frequently used on Linux in order to tell that a user is a member of the user group sudo and that this user can therefore run commands with root privileges.
But as has been explained in previous posts, such an administrator account is actually just a normal user account, too.
In order to run a command with root privileges, such an administrative user has got to use execute sudo/gksudo/kdesudo (whichever is appropriate) and authenticate by entering their password.
There is no UAC button on Linux by default where you simply click OK to run as root.

Hence your main assumption which leads to your conclusion that Linux Mint were less safe for computer newbies than Windows is incorrect; so is the conclusion.
Running Linux Mint is as safe as running Windows for newbies.

[MintBean]

Best not to assume your Windows expertise is applicable to Linux.

[shawnhcorey]

Windows DOES warn. And Windows DOES offer a menu to create a standard user account.

That's because Windows is insecure. Many apps in Windows assume they have root privilege, which means Windows has to warn you if you try to improve the security of Windows. They got tried of complaints when users try to limit the number of viruses they get by running in a user account.

BTW, never enable the root account in Linux. You can do everything you need to do using `sudo`. You can change what is available to you or any user by using the User and Groups app from the Control Center. If the root account is enabled, then someone has hacked into your computer.

[Hoser Rob]

LinuxMint is less safe than Windows for newbies, because LinuxMint does NOT warn during or after install that one has to create a standard user account.
Windows DOES warn. And Windows DOES offer a menu to create a standard user account.

Everything that DOES make LinuxMint safe is the fact that you should use it as a standard user, NOT as an administrator.

I am a newbie. Even after half a year of using LinuxMint I still DO NOT understand why the creators of LinuxMint DO NOT ADD a simple warning (for newbies) that one has to create a standard user account for safety after installing LinuxMint.

You have a very dim concept of what an administrator is. In Windows you just think you're the administrator, in Linux you are.

[Arch_Enemy]

You have to create a ROOT account if you want an account with root privileges. And that is a bit difficult by design.

Sorry, no offence meant, but that statement is simply incorrect. The user account root is present on every single Linux Mint system. You do not have the choice of creating it or not creating it. It is present all the time, and it runs most of the systemwide processes.
Creating an account named ROOT is possible, but will not make any difference. It would be just another (normal) user.

You can set Mint and Ubuntu up so the root account can be logged into, with a password, etc. Last time I looked it was a convoluted process; perhaps it has been made easier since then (that was ~9 years ago).
There are times when it is necessary to log in as root on some versions, Ubuntu/Mint appear to have overcome this situation, and I have been seeing others following this model as well.

To borrow from Arch, "The Mint Way" seems to be the best for overall security; I have never tried to make the root account a login account.

There is, IIRC, a way you can make it so your standard user (or, one standard user on multiuser systems) ALWAYS has administrative access at all times; it is accomplished by giving that user sudo access at all times without having to invoke the sudo command. Certainly not recommended, and I can't even remember how it's done anymore. I think it's done at the initial installation, and can be changed later. Since it makes the system more insecure, I have never bothered, except once by accident.

[Arch_Enemy]

Best not to assume your Windows expertise is applicable to Linux.

Amen, Brother!

Common mistake I think we have all made at one point or another...

[Rocky Bennett]

LinuxMint is less safe than Windows for newbies, because LinuxMint does NOT warn during or after install that one has to create a standard user account.
Windows DOES warn. And Windows DOES offer a menu to create a standard user account.

Everything that DOES make LinuxMint safe is the fact that you should use it as a standard user, NOT as an administrator.

I am a newbie. Even after half a year of using LinuxMint I still DO NOT understand why the creators of LinuxMint DO NOT ADD a simple warning (for newbies) that one has to create a standard user account for safety after installing LinuxMint.

I install Windows for a living, sometimes I install 2 or 3 Windows systems a week. I have never seen any such warning that you claim to exist. Just to double check this lack of observation on my part I performed a clean install of Windows 10 on a new computer last night and I still did not see any warning similar to the one that you describe.

Where is this warning? What exactly does this warning say? It must not be present in Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10 because I have just never seen anything like this.

[Arch_Enemy]

You have to create a ROOT account if you want an account with root privileges. And that is a bit difficult by design.

Sorry, no offence meant, but that statement is simply incorrect. The user account root is present on every single Linux Mint system. You do not have the choice of creating it or not creating it. It is present all the time, and it runs most of the systemwide processes.
Creating an account named ROOT is possible, but will not make any difference. It would be just another (normal) user.

I'm reminded of one place I used to go to, a BIG health center, where the servers were running Linux quite a bit. They were having trouble with one of the servers, finding a lot of files in the USR folder that shouldn't be there.

Seems this place used the person's last name for the login name, and one of the people accessing the server was Miss ROOT...

[Hoser Rob]

Best not to assume your Windows expertise is applicable to Linux.

Or that you actually have much Windows expertise. I've seen so many noobs on Linux forums claiming they're Windows experts who are in fact clueless.

[Arch_Enemy]

Best not to assume your Windows expertise is applicable to Linux.

Or that you actually have much Windows expertise. I've seen so many noobs on Linux forums claiming they're Windows experts who are in fact clueless.

Well, I used to be a Windows expert, all the way up to 7.

When I first ventured into the world of Linux, my home system was running Windows NT 4.0. Great OS, BTW. I tried Caldera, that I got from a book from Staples.

After a couple weeks of scratching my head and saying "Why the f ck is it doing THAT?!?!" I went back to NT, and then on to Win2000. Again, another great OS.

At this point I wanted a piece of software that was ~$400 if you bought it, but was free if you were running Linux. I took up with my old girlfriend, SuSE and we had a great time together until she started blowing out Windows in dual boot situations. Then there was Mandrake, and a couple others that have since been "absorbed", then Mint. After that I began my love/hate relationship with Arch, and finally back to Mint.

While I may have been a Windows "Guru" for years (worked 2 Help Desks for large corps as they OS "specialist") they came out with Vista, which made the move to Linux pretty complete. Win 7 came out too late so save Microsoft's face, except for when I print photos on my Canons. Eight and Ten, summed up in one word..."UGH". Perhaps if they stopped treating users like idiots I might consider it...

[Arch_Enemy]

PS: When it comes to Linux, even after all these years, I still consider myself a n00b, but I do know enough to get myself out of most "oops" situations. Sometimes...

[Portreve]

LinuxMint is less safe than Windows for newbies, because LinuxMint does NOT warn during or after install that one has to create a standard user account.
Windows DOES warn. And Windows DOES offer a menu to create a standard user account.

Everything that DOES make LinuxMint safe is the fact that you should use it as a standard user, NOT as an administrator.

I am a newbie. Even after half a year of using LinuxMint I still DO NOT understand why the creators of LinuxMint DO NOT ADD a simple warning (for newbies) that one has to create a standard user account for safety after installing LinuxMint.

Um, no. Root's not enabled, and you're not root because you're the primary user on the machine.