this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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What viruses do you think you're going to catch on a Linux host? Nobody is packing Linux viruses into torrents so they might affect the < 1% of people who download it.
I mostly pay for games, but this is a really dumb take.
Virus is just a program that tries to whatever its malicious intent is while being as minimal and portable as it gets. It it’s a ransomeare to encrypt all your data or a program that looks for passwords in your files, it can still be fairly successful when running through Wine. There is a chance through, that it assumes typical paths where Windows keeps files and if it never tries other drives than C, it will only affect Wine prefix and not your actual files.
You can run Bottles in Flatpak and cut out access to any of your files if you’re afraid it can be malicious
Right, agreed. I basically just said that last part to someone else.
The problem with seeing danger in every shadow is that you'll never feel safe is safe enough. There is only so much a person can do to protect themselves, but there comes a point where you've made everything so inconvenient for the sake of security that you can't just live your life. Take reasonable steps and don't worry beyond that.
The classical Windows viruses that run fairly well under Wine? Sure, the impact is not as high as on Windows but pretending there's no risk is extremely dumb. I do security for a living. Your "argument" is just plain wrong and I hope I never get your PC on any network I am part of.
So then you should know how to scan for viruses before you execute anything.
Your argument is that torrents = viruses, which is also wrong.
i'm of the same mindset when it comes to pirating any executable - it really is just not worth the effort to me to go through the steps to ensure the file isn't malicious, and a signature-based virus scan won't catch everything.
Perfect security is impossible. It's always a trade off between convenience and assurance. Can you be 100% certain that the official source of software hasn't been compromised? Remember CCleaner for Windows? It was distributing malware at one point.
I cannot purchase certain games any longer, for instance Outrun 2006. A downloaded copy is the only reasonable option. Purchasing a used copy doesn't benefit the rights holder, so I don't bother.
Take reasonable steps to limit any access the program would have - scan files, use a separate limited-rights user, a sandbox, etc. - and live your life.
right - obviously when piracy is the only option then you get what you get and you need to do the legwork to make sure it's safe.
i do take proper security precautions (at least i hope i do, i have a degree in it lol)
i more meant that i'd rather not deal with an executable i don't trust at all since i'm lazy and generally trust the official sources more than the illegitimate ones.