Warp wrote:
> in the case of Linux it's really part of the OS because device drivers
> are compiled into the kernel,

Is that still true, tho? I thought the "modules" stuff took care of 
that? Like loading the encryption loopback device makes something new in 
/dev (/dev/loop0) yes?

Or am I just confused?

>   Also, is a firewall an integral part of the OS, or is it just a app
> in the distro?

Clearly the ability to examine connections has to be part of the OS if 
the TCP stack is part of the OS. How you decide to permit or refuse a 
connection is probably in user-space if you can afford the inefficiency.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> Warp wrote:
> > in the case of Linux it's really part of the OS because device drivers
> > are compiled into the kernel,

> Is that still true, tho? I thought the "modules" stuff took care of 
> that? Like loading the encryption loopback device makes something new in 
> /dev (/dev/loop0) yes?

> Or am I just confused?

  Driver modules can be dynamically linked to the kernel at runtime.
They are still part of the kernel, though. Once linked they are part
of the kernel code, have all the same rights and all the same access.
Moreover, there's no standard stable binary interface between the modules
and the rest of the kernel. A module compiled for one version of the
kernel may well not work with the next version. In other words, all the
device driver modules must always be provided with each new version of
the kernel. Closed source binary-only driver modules are not feasible
(because they would only work for a very limited range of kernels).

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:
>> Or am I just confused?
>   Driver modules can be dynamically linked to the kernel at runtime.

Thanks for the explanation!

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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somebody wrote:
> "Tim Cook" <z99### [at] gmailcom> wrote in message
> news:47bf2aeb$1@news.povray.org...
> 
>> Which means that, in theory, they fixed security holes that AV and
>> firewalls use to do low-level system calls, thereby also blocking off a
>> lot of viruses/malware in the process.
> 
> Antivirus, anti-malware and firewall should be an integral and irreplacable
> part of the OS, for any modern OS.
> 
> 


It is - you can use the ultra useful and secure MS security programs.

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