this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2025
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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When a security mechanism becomes more complex to manage than what it is supposed to protect, it becomes a vulnerability itself.
If you had a minimal system that you built from the ground up yourself and wanted to only have that system function in very specific ways, SELinux would be perfect. I would go so far as to say it would be nearing perfection in some ways.
Sorry, but in the real world, ain't nobody got time for that shit. If you use auto configuration tools or pre-canned configs for SELinux on a system you are unfamiliar with, it's more likely to cause application issues, create security gaps and will likely be shut off by a Jr. admin who really has no fucking clue what he is doing anyway.
It's just easier to keep your system patched and ensure basic network security practices anyway.
It's not impossible to manage these days. In the early days it was, but most everything is automagic now. If I am not mistaken, SELinux can be enabled to 'log only' which would give you data better handled by a HIPS anyway. (Don't quote me on that.)
I fully agree with you...
Sorry if it sounded like my rant was directed at you as it absolutely wasn't. Your comment triggered me, because I absolutely fully agreed with yours as well. ;)