• MangoCats@feddit.it
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    19 hours ago

    Immutable means: every time you power it on, it’s the same.

    So, if you get infected by a virus, power cycle and it’s like it never happened.

    That, like everything you read on the internet, is a gross oversimplification, caveats apply, etc. etc. but for the most part, that’s what immutable means: the running system has no ability to persist changes (except in very specific, controlled, secure, easier to protect circumstances…)

    • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works
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      13 hours ago

      “Today I played this awesome hacker game called “terminal” and when I put in the “lbu commit” cheat code, I unlocked an ass-beating!”

      “Dad says we can’t play at your house anymore, Jake.”

    • ranzispa@mander.xyz
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      19 hours ago

      I guess a virus can, and often does, live in plain data. Moreover, can you not have scripts and executables in your personal directory? Can you not schedule a cronjob or a systemd service?

      • MangoCats@feddit.it
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        19 hours ago

        Everything is possible. The point of immutability is the ability to restore to “factory fresh” state with a power cycle.

        In theory, the data section is treated as data only, not executable. Software (games) can, and will, improperly store and execute code there, but at least they can be identified when they do and disabled/removed without breaking the underlying system.