Is it possible for software to PHYSICALLY harm your computer?
I just bought a laptop, and am visually impaired. I would love to put ubuntu on it, because the zooming capability is so much more functional than windows magnifier. I'm just hesitent in case of voiding the warranty. Should I be concerned about ubuntu physically damaging the laptop in anyway?
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M$3 Answers
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M$
You should have no concerns about putting Ubuntu on a new laptop, in fact it is possible to purchase laptops from several manufacturers with variations of Linux pre-installed.
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M$
Long, LONG, ago, when hard disk drives were literally the size of a washing machine, it was possible to create all kinds of physical havok with programs running on a computer. Even relatively recently, say within the last 10 years, it was possible to cause damage to a CRT monitor that would render it inoperative by manipulating the operating parameters. On a modern laptop, I think the only physical vulnerability would be the internal temperature of the system - however, you are infinitely more likely to cause the heat-death of your computer by actually running it on your lap, than by running any given program on it.
The operating system really does not matter from the standpoint of this kind of vulnerability; however, the user community does. From my 20+ years of experience in the field, I can confidently say that Linux/Ubuntu users are smarter and more likely to know how to cause the damage you fear, but that most of the black hats who are *likely* to want to cause damage are in the Windows community. Given that the windows community is easily 100x larger than the Unix community, you can do the math for yourself.
But really, you have nothing to worry about.
Long experience programming computers.
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M$
I believe the person was refering to the Ubuntu 8.10 beta damaging some intel network cards, making them unusable