Raspberry Pi - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

28 Feb 2013

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On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 11:55 AM PST Jim Stephens wrote:

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On 2/28/2013 11:40 AM, Chris Tofu wrote:
    What about security? Does Rpi employ a firewall
and virus scanning? And since the pi uses sd storage, it might make more sense to compare
it's internet capabilities with a tablet or smart phone. Raspian, the debian
equivalent that runs on the Pi is just one of many OS's that run on that target.

You have confused the target (arm 7) and platform (Raspberry Pi) with the OS.  The things
you speak of above have entirely to do with the OS and nothing to do with the platform or
target, other than performance.

The Rpi has nothing to do with firewall, virus scanning, or security in this context.  It
is true that many target processors have enhanced security and media extensions, but I do
not think the Pi has such.

And unless you go out of your way to run windows or macos emulations on the rpi, the virus
is pretty much astronomically useless to discuss.  The chances of any targeted virus to an
arm at this point is pretty remote, though I'm sure there are linux exploits that may
be applies. 
C: we were specifically discussing performance. People seem to have an inordinate
attachment to this thing. And do I have to say again I'm not altogether panning it.
But to state there's no concerns about virus' on a unit that's being touted as
general purpose computer is insane. The performance benefits obviously have everything to
do with what it's running (commonly running?). You could install an inefficient pig on
rpi just like anything else. I'm not confusing anything. There's many reasons why
things go slow and things go fast.