[consteval]

I think having a Linux/BSD might be helpful here in the general case, because the culture is different.

In Windows land it's pretty much expected that you go to random websites, download random executables, ignore the "make changes to your computer?" warnings and pretty much give the exe full permission to do anything. It's very much been the standard software install workflow for decades now on Windows.

In the Linux/BSD world, while you can do the above, people generally don't. Generally, they stick to trusted software sources with centralized updates, like your second point. In this case I don't think it's a matter of capability, both Windows and Unix-land is capable of what you're suggesting.

I think phishing is generally much less effective in Max/Linux/BSD world because of this.

[BobaFloutist]

Until a a lucrative contract requires you to install prescribed boutique windows-only software from a random company you've never heard of, and then it's back to that bad old workflow.

[boolemancer]

Yeah, because no one on Linux or Mac would clone a git repo they just found out about and blindly run the setup scripts listed in the readme.

And no one would pipe a script downloaded with wget/curl directly into bash.

And nobody would copy a script from a code-formatted block on a page, paste it directly into their terminal and then run it.

Im not going to go so far as to claim that these behaviors are as common as installing software on Windows, but they are still definitely common, and all could lead to the same kinds of bad things happening.

[consteval]

I would agree this stuff DOES happen, but typically in development environments. And I also think its crappy practice. Nobody should ever pipe a curl into sh. I see it on docs sometimes and yes, it does bother me.

I think though that the culture of robust repositories and package managers is MUCH more prominent on Mac/iOS/Linux/FreeBSD. It's coming to Windows too with the new(er) Windows store stuff, so hopefully people don't become too resistant to that.

[rlanday]

A developer is much more likely to be able to fix their computer and/or restore from a backup than a typical user is. A significant problem is cascading failures, where one bozo installing malware either creates a business problem (e.g. allowing someone to steal a bunch of money) or is able to disable a bunch of other computers on the same network. It is not that common for macOS to be implicated in these sorts of issues. I know people have been saying for a long time that it’s theoretically possible but it really doesn’t seem that common in practice.