In an open letter to a digital world, Chris Spencer has laid out his case for everyone making the switch to Linux. He makes a good argument for how bad some Microsoft practices are, though we’ve heard that one countless times already. Otherwise, he seems to ignore a few facts that point to a problem besides Windows.

First, correlation does not imply causation. Just because 80% of Windows users have spyware problems, it doesn’t mean that they have problems exclusively because of Windows. If having Windows was enough by itself, then that number would certainly be higher. Unless the other 20% aren’t on the Internet, there is more to the story.

Second, security is not a matter of software but a matter of policy. It doesn’t matter what software you are using when you have idiots at the switch or flawed security procedures in place. He keeps using anecdotal stories to demonstrate how you can get spyware without doing anything naughty, but that still doesn’t mean most victims aren’t making themselves vulnerable.

Third, Linux is not a silver bullet. I’ve seen plenty of people royally screw up their Linux installation. A higher level of expertise among Linux users may be masking some design problems that would be well-known if found in Windows, instead.