this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2024
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I made this post because I am really curious if Linux is used in offices and educational centres like schools.

While we all know Windows is the mac-daddy in the business space, are there any businesses you know or workplaces that actually Linux as a business replacement for Windows?

I.e. Mint or Ubuntu, I am not strictly talking about the server side of things.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes, and when the company gets hacked they can sue you for not keeping “your” computer secure enough.

Sounds very American point-of-view. Installation and usage was officially sanctioned. Most developers in both companies preferred to use Linux, some used Macs, wintoys users were a minority. Neither company had any super restrictive corporate BS on their wintoys installation. Neither company is based in the Americas. Both are local companies in the EU.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes but doesn't change the issue. That scenario will happen and no CTO on his right mind would allow indiscriminate and random tool usage as it opens the company to a ton of possible liability. If someone does then that person is just bad at their job.

usage was officially sanctioned

What do you mean by this? Is there an entire set of guidelines and security policies for both Windows, macOS and Linux users on the company? Like AV software they're required to run, do they lock Linux machines with policies like they do with Windows ones? How does it work? If they don't to any of the above then we're back to my previous asessement.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

The point here is that the company trusts their employees to use the best tools for them, be secure and do the right thing. Be the most productive. Windows needs that kind of third party snake-oil like AV software and restrictive policies to run it somewhat secure. Most Linux distros are already secure by design out of the box. Drive-by malware and hacking are a thing in windows not Linux.

Of course there are best practices and guidelines for running your system securely, how to handle sensitive data etc.