What is the most secure Linux distro?

[Storm Shadow]

What is the most secure Linux distro? Especially against hacking?
Thanks in advance!
SS

[pbharris]

the one you keep updated. that said debian because it is pretty damn easy to keep it updated.

[X_console]

A distro is only as secure as the sysadmin who manages it. Every distro from the start has lax security. It's up to you to secure it. One good tip to ease securing your system is to get a distribution that has few security problems on a default install. You still have to download patches, but not as many as other distributions. RedHat and Mandrake for instace are notorious for holes. But if you install it, make sure you download all the patches and keep updated and you should be okay. Personally I use Slackware. The current patches (as of 7.1) are very few (between 9-15 depending on what software you installed).

One more thing... there's no such thing as a distro or a system that's fool proof. You can have a bullet proof system but if you start surfing the Net as root for instance, you're asking for trouble.

[ 13 February 2001: Message edited by: X_console ]

[SUOrangeman]

I don't know about an entire distro, but you can't be far off-base with a kernel from NSA (http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/index.html). :D

-SUO

[Infested Flar]

yah X is right! try to look at www.linuxseciruty.com (http://www.linuxseciruty.com) . and ull see what distros are performin well. me, like X, uses Slackware. but it depends then to the sysad. i find in that URL that RedHat, Mandrake n FreeBSD are always present every week to have known holes on its packages. so, in short, its up to u then. GoodLuck!

-flar-

[Pika]

pbharris, although short & simple, that is one of the best replies.

The initial question would have started an all out distro flame-war if this was slashdot.

I applaud the maturity (and accuracy)of posters like you pb.

Any installation, if well maintained, can be very secure. Some distros, such as slack and openbsd keep security as a higher priority than others, most of the work needs to be done by the end user.

[ifred]

Don't forget there are also a few NHFs on security right here at LNO you can check out if you are concerned about security.

[syn]

standard answer:
a completely safe system would be one that is not connected to a network and burried underground
or something along those lines
and its true, if someone cant get access over the network, they WILL get access physically, and thats even worse haha

[lord sibn]

Originally posted by syn:
standard answer:
a completely safe system would be one that is not connected to a network and burried underground
or something along those lines
and its true, if someone cant get access over the network, they WILL get access physically, and thats even worse haha
I think that one goes "A box filled with cement, chained shut, in a safe, underground, in fort knox."

[jbstew32]

basically anything but Red Hat, and with that, Mandrake and other Red Hat based distros. I will go with Debian or Slackware. Debian has quite a few updates, but they are maintained very well by the debian team and are easy to download within debian. Slackware seems to have a lot less updates as far as in number, and I personally like Slack :)

Red Hat = BAD!
Debian & Slack = :cool: