Take the tour ×  I have just spent a few hours playing with
Puppy linux, which has some very nice features, but there are
some things about its approach to security (at least the default
settings) that worry me:    1. It seems that the intended way to
use it is to run everything as root   2. There is no password
for root (by default-- of course I could add one)   3. There is
no automated (or even a simple non-automated) way of getting
security updates for packages, as far as I can tell. (I might
have missed something.)  I have always had drummed into my head
the importance of having a complex password, of not browsing the
internet as an admin/root user, and of keeping system software
(and browser, and plugins) up to date with patches for the
latest vulnerabilities. However, despite what looks to me like a
recipe for disaster (outlined above), Puppy is popular enough to
have a lot of spin-offs, so there must be scenarios in which the
apparent lack of security is a non-issue. What are they?
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