Off Topic: If You Value Your Online Security You Need To Run Linux

[mwight]

It's almost 2009 and I still know a lot of people who don't keep an up to date antivirus installed on their windows computers.

Thats just asking to for major trouble if you use your credit cards to make purchases or have to put in your passwords on sites like paypal etc.

 

I highly recommend everyone here who is concerned about their security online learn to use linux.

 

Linux is immune to all windows viruses and spyware, and it was the only operating system that wasn't able to be hacked at the last DEFCON (Hacker Convention).

 

It's not as bad as you think, not nearly. It's very easy to use with very little learning curve, if your just wanting to do basic tasks like download music, burning cd's, surfing the web, and playing solitaire it does all that and does it well. If your a little more computer savvy there are tons of games like world of warcraft, and eve online, and many first person shooters which run just fine under linux.

 

I use a distribution of linux called Linux Mint and its based off the most popular distribution called ubuntu. It has everything set up and configured for use out of the box (things that ubuntu is missing), its very fast (faster than windows) and very stable, and very robust. People in the linux mint chatroom are helpful and nice and can most likely help you with any problem that google cannot.

 

You can download it for free, and test it live from the cd without installing it before hand.

 

A word of warning if you do decide to give it a try, please make sure you back up all data that is important to you as formating will destroy it.

 

Here is the projects website:

http://www.linuxmint.com/

 

 

Here is the ISO, you can burn this to cd

http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/sta...LinuxMint-6.iso

 

 

 

 

 

 

If nothing else please keep your windows updated, and run firefox http://www.getfirefox.com and also a good free antivirus and antispyware program like avg (and keep it updated daily) http://free.avg.com/

Edited December 24, 2008 by mwight

[Smile]

Actually AVG is not as good as Antivir. Still, you Windows is safe if you set up your physical and software firewalls correctly. Get a router and a good anti-spyware/malware/virus/firewall software. I recommend Norton Internet Security 2009 as they fixed all their previous problems and now it's very fast and takes minimum resources. Read more about testing different Antivirus software and the results here.

[gossamer]

Please read THIS:

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_computer_viruses

[mwight]

gossamer,

 

your much better off with linux than you ever will be with windows.

 

http://www.linux.com/feature/131059

 

I've been using linux for years and been apart of the community too I've never seen or even heard of an infection from a linux virus.

 

 

That list of viruses you listed is but a handful, there are tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands or millions even for windows.

 

Also there are antivirus programs for linux like clamav or avg if your really paranoid.

Edited December 24, 2008 by mwight

[Smile]

MWight, you are right. Unfortunately, I use video/graphics software that Linux can't handle well with emulators.

[mwight]

Actually AVG is not as good as Antivir. Still, you Windows is safe if you set up your physical and software firewalls correctly. Get a router and a good anti-spyware/malware/virus/firewall software. I recommend Norton Internet Security 2009 as they fixed all their previous problems and now it's very fast and takes minimum resources. Read more about testing different Antivirus software and the results here.

 

 

Antivir is good, but the interface is absolute shit, I can't stand looking at that gui XD I would never install antivir on someone's system I know is computer illiterate.

 

I still recommend avg, its never done me wrong. I put it on all the pc's I have to maintain for family and extended family, without any spyware problems.

[mwight]

MWight, you are right. Unfortunately, I use video/graphics software that Linux can't handle well with emulators.

 

 

 

Smile,

 

What software do you run? You might be able to use virtualbox to install a copy of XP inside of linux and run it that way if wine wont do it for you.

 

Also you might want to consider picking up a cheap used laptop on ebay after the xmas rush is over and everyone sells there old laptops.

 

You could format the laptop with linux and use it for all secure credit card transactions, and paypal, ebay financial stuff.

 

 

I buy used 1.5+Ghz machines with 512MB of ram, and 40+GB hard drives, DVD/CD-RW, and wireless for about $160 with shipping, and I turn around and reformat them with linux and sell them for $225 at the store where I work.

 

I move them as fast as I can get them.

Edited December 24, 2008 by mwight

[Smile]

Photoshop CS4 with latest Dreamweaver and Flash. Sometimes Final Cut pro. And lots of custom made programs for windows on internet marketing/research/etc.

[mwight]

PS CS4 "Gold" http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?...n&iId=14318

 

Dream Weaver CS4 "Platinum" http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?...n&iId=14343

 

I heard that Flash CS4 Is platinum on the newest wine version too, but cant find any documentation on it.

 

Final Cut is Mac isn't it?

 

As for your custom windows programs, you can always run them inside of a virtual machine and get them to work. Virtualbox lets you Install a copy of windows inside of linux. I've got some old dos games running in linux... how geeky is that XD

 

I see where your coming from though, if I had to run all those programs on a daily basis, it would get frustrating, having to reinstall and tweak them every six months when a new version of linux came out.

Edited December 24, 2008 by mwight

[Smile]

Thanks Mwight.

yeah, it's too much to bother with and my security is top notch- it has to be as I frequent lots of Russian forums/etc

[picnic]

so use Windows for those apps that you can't yet get on Linux but for everything else Linux.

 

and everyone else who just uses the computer for web, words, music, video and images Linux is wonderful.

 

You don't have a virus checker on linux (if you do it wont find anything) non of that 2 hours a week maintaining your PC, never have to defrag, just use, enjoy.

 

I dropped windows and have been fully Linux for well over a year. A great starter Linux (it all just works straight away from flash to video) is Linux Mint linuxmint website

 

good advice mwight!

Edited December 24, 2008 by picnic

[mwight]

Linux mint is awesome, flash, dvd codecs, java, divx, mp3 xvid all that good stuff installed and configured for you, it also has a nicer interface than ubuntu.

 

so use Windows for those apps that you can't yet get on Linux but for everything else Linux.

 

and everyone else who just uses the computer for web, words, music, video and images Linux is wonderful.

 

You don't have a virus checker on linux (if you do it wont find anything) non of that 2 hours a week maintaining your PC, never have to defrag, just use, enjoy.

 

I dropped windows and have been fully Linux for well over a year. A great starter Linux (it all just works straight away from flash to video) is Linux Mint linuxmint website

 

good advice mwight!

[ZenStatic]

Arch >> Mint

 

Ive been using linux for years. Gotta love it. A true 3d desktop too

[mwight]

Arch >> Mint

 

Ive been using linux for years. Gotta love it. A true 3d desktop too

 

lostmonk,

 

Arch is great, I like the rolling release deal it has going for it. However for a nooby, linux mint is the best out of the box experience linux has to offer at the moment I believe.

 

 

P.S.

I like your new avatar/pic where did you find that? I'm curious can you tell my pic is of a frying pan with an egg in it?

Edited December 24, 2008 by mwight

[dragonfire]

It doesn't matter what OS you have if you don't run spyware and have Anti-virus software. Do

you think that Microsoft and his team do not have some basement somewhere where they

hire top programmers to send viruses to other O/S like Linux? You got to be kidding me in this

day in age.

 

I used to be a computer programmer. Now I'm studying Chinese Medicine.

 

Use these. They are free on the internet. Just google. They will remove all those

nasty little programs in your computer that you're not aware of. Download both.

 

Spybot Search And Destroy

SpyWareBlaster

 

Get a good Anti-virus software like norton and stay away from

sites you know you shouldn't be visiting.

[mwight]

[gossamer]

PLEASE READ THIS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_computer_viruses

[mwight]

PLEASE READ THIS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_computer_viruses

 

 

gossamer,

 

Lets talk about facts and reality here.

 

Linux has fewer viruses than Mac OS, and Windows, thats a fact. Any time an exploit in linux is discovered the kernel is patched to protect against it. If you keep your system updated you will get the patch to your system a lot sooner than you would from microsoft or apple with a comparable exploit.

 

Linux is open source meaning that thousands of IT professionals examine the code every day looking for and patching security exploits/holes when they find them. It is vastly more secure than either windows or Mac OS.

 

Due to its open source nature and fast security patches, the likelihood of being infected by a trojan or other virus is much less than on a windows machine or a mac.

 

Fundamentally linux is written to be more secure than windows or even mac, all software installations or viruses REQUIRE you the user to input your password in order to install them. Assuming you download software only from your distrobutions default repositories, and or trusted sources, your likelihood of catching a virus is next to zero.

 

For you to be infected with a virus on linux would require you downloading suspect packages and manually installing them yourself requiring you to type in your root password.

 

Ubuntu is not the least secure version of linux, I am not sure where you get your information from. Security is top priority for the ubuntu team.

 

I want to pick apart every virus you listed via wikipedia, I might do that later although I am sure your not going to listen as you think an old version of mac os which has thousands of viruses written for it is some how more secure than linux.

[Mal]

 

For you to be infected with a virus on linux would require you downloading suspect packages and manually installing them yourself requiring you to type in your root password.

 

 

and that's it in a nutshell

 

Said the VISTA user

 

I so miss the good old days of Unix and the internet before this newfangled www stuff

[Desert Eagle]

Thanks mwight for this thread, I made my laptop a triple boot with vista+mandriva2009+linux mint (win xp doesn't recognise my new laptop's HD, there was no xp driver nor a compatibility option from the BIOS.)

my previous experience with ubuntu was that it was a bit difficult to learn, mint is much more user friendly. it is worthy to note that there is now a super ubuntu version.

 

A problem I had when installing mint for my sister's laptop is that the partitioner stopped with an error so then I tried it manually and then the windows xp partition is no longer bootable and gave me a "missing or corrupted hal.dll" error, I tried almost everything but I could not restore windows xp but the partition files are still ok.

 

after doing all the mint updates and package manager updates there are several annoyances that I haven't been able to fix:

 

1- youtube vids disappear sometimes. replaced by a blank space where they should be.

 

2- I don't know how to disable multiple desktops which is very annoying.

 

3- skype linux does not answer calls, when I press the answer button nothing happens. I have to restart to vista for conferences.

 

4- I don't know how to use wine doors or virtualbox, wine doors asks for an autokey but I don't know what to do, I already googled for help but nothing useful. I need internet explorer for some sites.

 

5- I also don't see the page title on the tools bar in firefox anymore and the top right icon is stuck on loading animation.

 

6- when I open the software manager it starts with the error "The data used by mintInstall is corrupted or out of date. Click on refresh to fix the problem : mismatched tag: line 13, column 2" and then I can't use the program, only the binoculars icon opens a search dialog for ubuntu's deb database webpage.

 

linux mint's home page and forums did not open.

 

I think multiple desktops causes some of the previous problems, and I miss the windows button+D short cut, is there an alternative?

 

here are the necessary software installations I had to do:

 

internet:

 

skype linux

amule

ktorrent

multiget

aria

downthem all (in firefox)

 

windows programs:

 

wine doors

virtualbox

 

archive management:

 

peazip (I had to install this in order to open rar files, it is a good program).

 

solved: in firefox, the right mouse button was not stable but installing an extension called "mouse gestures redox" fixed it.

minor prob: in ktorrent when I open a jpg file from the files display, it opens thunderbird and I don't know how to fix this.

 

these are the issues that I remember now and I hope someone would help me with some of them.

 

Sincerely,

 

Desert Eagle

[mwight]

hey eagle,

 

I can help you with the youtube bug. Someone on the ubuntu team fubarred things up.

 

if you open package manager and search for flash you will see flash-nonfree 10.0.15.3-ubuntu1~intrepid1 is installed so uninstall that completely and choose to adobe-flashplugin 10.0.15.3-intrepid2 and install that now hit apply and close out and restart firefox.

 

That should fix your youtube bug.

 

I dont know how to disable multiple desktops but I did add a workplace switcher to my taskbar by clicking on it which allows me to move in between tasks, I also added a network monitor so I can see when im downloading/uploading

 

if your xp doesn't see your laptops hard drive its probably an old style sata, try going into the bios and making sure its setup so that windows sees it as IDE, if this isn't an option which it should be you should be able to track down who makes your hard drive controller and download the appropriate drivers for it and place that on a floppy, then when installing xp it will say something like press F6 to load other drivers or something then you let it read the drivers off the floppy disk.

 

 

 

I dont really know about the corruption bug, but I would rule out a hardware failure first thing.

 

download memtest, burn it to a cd and boot and test your ram a few times to make sure you get no errors. http://www.memtest.org/

 

Download spinrite 6 and burn it to an iso, and do the same for your hard drive, if it doesn't see your hard drive most likely there is a bios option you can enable to make it standard ide, thats what I recommend doing. Then test your drive out, make sure that you do a number 4 locate surface defects scan, it will take a while. spinrite is located on thepiratebay/demonoid/mininova

 

if all that comes back ok, then perhaps its your isp, or something wrong with your network card.

Edited January 13, 2009 by mwight

[Franky]

I use ubuntu 8.1. I decided to reformat my computer (which is 6 years old) and it wouldn't recognize it's own recovery disc.

Now, unix software is all my old hp laptop will run. So far, i think it's better for just the basic stuff like internet and text. Gimp should run psd files, open office runs microsoft word files and Document Viewer runs pdf files. Everything on linux tends to run faster then on windows to.

[mwight]

Actually AVG is not as good as Antivir.

 

I just wanted to thank you, I had to do a reformat of a machine with xp, and decided to try antivir instead of avg, I must say it is much more lightweight, and while I still don't care for the interface, its improved a lot. From an end users perspective who would never even open the program anyway its fine. I will be installing it on all future rigs as its more secure.

[mwight]

I just wanted to thank you, I had to do a reformat of a machine with xp, and decided to try antivir instead of avg, I must say it is much more lightweight, and while I still don't care for the interface, its improved a lot. From an end users perspective who would never even open the program anyway its fine. I will be installing it on all future rigs as its more secure.

 

I am not sure if I can keep using antivir I didn't realize it offers no active spyware protection. Windows defender might be an option to supplement it, but on older win2k boxes I am going to have to stick with avg.

[Ya Mu]

Just had 2 separate events happen.

 

Software running on Unix server. I am using Joomla as my web software for www.stillnessmovement.com. It was hacked last week. I spent all weekend trying to re-install my backup. After upgrading to new version (1.5.9) of Joomla and trying to fix the problems for 2 days I finally gave up did a full install of the newer release of Joomla. So this stuff CAN be hacked. The fault was mine as I had not kept up-to-date on the Joomla releases. But the version I was using was not THAT old (several months).

 

Another separate event with a windoze vista laptop. Got bit by the google re-direct virus (rootkit) that none of the antivirus programs could find. I found and manually deleted a file that was hiding as a system file.

This virus re-directs google searches to malicious sites.

 

G was right, they are out to get us!