Nee-ner Nee-ner: Linux Buffer Overflow

I'm sick of hearing: Microsoft sucks, they leave their stuff vunerable:

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-857265.html

Though not necessarily the place to start a MS vs. Linux war, since people here either use Microsoft or Apple, but this is the only place online that I hang out, so there!

Again:
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-857265.html

now before you go flaunting that "see, linux isn't as secure or stable as windows after" line, realize some key points here.

1- Since this issue is now known and in the open, it can be fixed by any developer who has a clue to which steps to prevent it.

2- The next kernel will most definatly have this whole sewn shut.

3- The fix will be freely available. I don't even have to buy support from a multi-million dollar company for them to put me on an email list that will tell me about their software's bugs.

4- No experienced sysadmin claims that linux is impervious to exploits. Unlike microsoft who toughts that their systems are secure when the entire world knows they are not, linux sysadmins know that building a secure workstation/server takes research, work, skill and know-how.

I can almost garuntee that since this problem has been discovered by such an un-biased news outlet as CNet, it is either in the process of being fixed, or some brilliant sysadmin, with the sourcecode to his operating system has already fixed it.

Tell me. How long does it take for a large company such as MS to decide that a bug is dangerous enough to warrant developing a fix for it?