Um......is there an echo in here?


I switched to Linux in 1999.....


I still have a Winblows computer, but I only use it when I need to run Turbotax.

For all other "stuff" surfing the internet, running FLDIGI (on ham radio), email, streaming audio, Youtube-watching etc...... I use Linux. It does everything and doesn't get virus's.

It's free, and there's several versions depending on your preference.

The easiest version is Ubuntu. Homepage | Ubuntu (free)

There's also Fedora Fedora Project Homepage

I use Opensuse. openSUSE.org also free.

You can also "dual boot" it....... meaning that you can have BOTH windows and your favorite version of LInux on the same hard drive.

When you boot up the computer you simply select what you want to start, Windows or Linux. If you want to switch, you just reboot and select the other one.

If you're a beginner, I suggest that you just get another hard drive and install Linux on the other drive. Then just unplug the windows drive and plug in the Linux drive. That way you won't make a mistake and screw up the windows installation (any more than it is already screwed up!!!)

Do a little reading. It's not that hard to try it. (did I say it's free?.....like Free Beer and freeDOM)


Cheers Y'all!!

Almost Winblows free since 1999!!


Rick



Let me also add that Linux is in places that you might not expect.....

TIVO, hand held GPS (Tom-Tom GO), routers, wireless access points, Android phones & tablets, Kindle, to name a few.

Even Sony included instructions with the Playstation 2 to install PPC Linux on them (making the Playstation a functional computer) OtherOS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dreamworks uses Linux to make movies. DreamWorks Feature Linux and Animation | Linux Journal

Do a little reading. It's easier than you might think to install it on any computer.

Since it's free you have nothing to lose. No Linux distribution tries to sell you anything either.

If you want to know why Linux is less susceptible to virus's read the following. Notice I didn't say that Linux is IMMUNE to virus's....... but it's pretty close.
Linux vs. Windows Viruses


ymmv......


NOW, lets talk about Ford trucks!!!









/////////////// Ok ONE MORE EDIT!!!!!Here's why. In Windows most of you are using your computer with Administrative permission. That means that if you click on an executable file in an email for example, [xxx*****] it will (or can) run.

AND since you're an administrative user it can do VERY bad things to your computer or it can hide itself and wait until you put in your credit card username/password and then send it where it it shouldn't go!!



In Unix and Linux operating systems, it is not possible to open executable file in an email and just run it. It doesn't have run permissions and even if it did, you are not logged in as an administrative user (root) so if it did run it couldn't do anything to the operating system.....so it doesn't go anywhere....

The article above explains in far more detail. But it's not just that virus writers are not "targeting" Linux and Unix.


It's FAR more harder to make a virus that'll work in Linux.



Ok!! I'll SHUT UP!!

 

Thanks Rick, that really helps. I went to BN and bought a copy of Linux
For Dummies. After reading the first chapter, I'm wondering whether there are Stages I, II, III, and IV to the word dummy. Stu

 

stu i look at it this way ....... i am not a dummy , for my generation . this applies to all of us . my grandkids know more about the technical , and complicated electronic world we all seem to be absorbed in , same for my kids , but when it comes to old school problem solving or understanding they can fall a little short sometimes . they have had the benefits of all the gadgets that have become so popular in lets say the last 30 years ( my eldest's age ) that we did not have access too . we had to use the 'putor the man gave us ............ only problem is mine is full of faulty wiring and rust now ............ i'm gonna call my unk and see about putting the linux on the laptop and see how it works out . can't hurt to try !!!!!!!!!!! what's the worst ... i have too admit i can't figure it out .... like my cell phone .... where's flash gordon when ya need him to explain all ming's gadgets and how they work ......

 

I got it on Monday morning as well. I work from home most of the week, so I don't bother switching between work and home computers too often.

What I got was identified as FakeAlert!(somethingelse) by Mcafee Enterprise but wasn't able to stop it. When I got the click here to buy fix window I knew something was wrong. Called it a day at 2:00 PM on Monday and went to the office on Tuesday to borrow a reimage CD. Took an hour to reimae and download my files from the back up server.

Not much pain, but still annoying.

BTW, another funny fact I know about Linux, when MSN bought hotmail they tried to move it to their language and it kept crashing, so they had to keep running it under the original 'competition's' base to keep it working. Got this from a systems engineer several years ago, so don't ask me about much more detail on that.

 

Ahh.....what's "BN"?


The easiest way to install it is to go to Ubuntu.com and follow their directions.

If you have a CD/DVD 'burner' you can just download the install file to your "desktop" and run whatever "burning" software you have to copy the install image to the CD.

THEN, put the CD in the tray and reboot, select "install"

Then sit back and have a beer. It will ask you for some INPUT......like name, user name and password, time zone etc.

The installation is fairly simple and quick. There will NOT be the multiple reboots you have with windows.


Most computers are set up to boot from the CD/DVD drive out of the box as the first "boot device"

When they don't see a "bootable" drive there they go on to the next one, which is usually the main hard drive.

Do a little reading before you jump in. It's not very hard and there's little user input during install.

From: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation
Also look particularly at

Funny yes. "Fact" no. "Systems Engineers" ......... frequently report outdated info about Linux. Windows was REALLY bad several years ago.....It's only marginally better now (has anyone tried Vista?)

It's unlikely Microshaft would run anything on Linux (although they did [ servers] for a while) They were using Linux servers until it was widely reported on Slashdot and other usenets etc. Doesn't look good when MS uses Linux for anything!

Ubuntu and other very polished Linux distributions are much more hardware-friendly and backward compatible than Windows now.



I have installed Ubuntu on several of my friends computers. My teenage daughters used it in high school and their first 2 years of Jr college. .................

a few years ago, The oldest daughter sailed right thru a bad virus attack that got her entire school and any poor soul using the college network with a Microshaft Winblows computer!!!.....She didn't even know there was a problem until the school network crashed............ but her computer (a rather older HP laptop that I installed OpenSUSE Linux 10.3 on) just ignored the virus. She came home all smiles!!!

Her best friend has a really nice (newer) HP laptop and a couple of years ago she brought it to me all screwed up. She did not have the original install disks for Winders and I couldn't do a clean install of Vista, so I WIPED Windows and installed Ubuntu on it with all the trimmings! She used it for her last 2 years of college and her parents bought her a full install copy of Windows 7. She liked Ubuntu better.

But she wanted to use the free copy of MS Office and other MS software the school gives out for free. (they give it out free for a reason!!!........nothing like being tied-in huh?)

My daughter went to Windows 7 in her last couple of years of college because the shool offered FULL install copies of Windows 7 for $15, Office was nearly FREE...... catch them early and full brainwash them!!!!!

 

Sorry, BN is Barnes and Noble. Thanks again. Stu

 

Stu,


About 10 years ago I was on a "layover" in Spokane and was wasting time at the Mall bookstore.

I had known about Linux for many years but was afraid to try anything new.

I saw a book called "Learn Linux in a Weekend" for $20 and to my surprise, it had 2 CD's in the back.

When I popped those CDs in and rebooted the computer, after a few questions and about 45 min, I had a fully functional operating system on the old AMD K6 computer that I was going to throwaway!!


It was RED HAT Linux 7.2 ...............After that, I bought newer boxed versions of REDHAT Linux from anywhere I could find it. (Best Buy or Comp USA etc)


I continued to buy it through RED HAT 8.0 and 9.0 (it was only about $35-40 or so.)

After 9.0 REDHAT discontinued the retail "boxed" version. That's when I switched to SUSE Linux because it was still available in a box with a book. (I thought I needed to have a book!!!)


SUSE (Novell corp) was "boxed" through about version 10.3 then they discontinued their boxed retail version and went entirely WEB based (free, downloadable)

SUSE then changed their name to OpenSuSE and they're now at version 12.1 (I am using that now on 4 different computers)


REDHAT changed their free version to "FEDORA" (Redhat is the name for their Enterprise "paid" business versions of Linux) REDHAT is a HUGE US nearly $1B S&P 500 company! Red Hat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yes Virginia, There is a choice other than Microsoft and MAC (that's a truck, right?)

 

why doesn't that suprise me that it was mcaffee ????????? if it wasn't such a hassle i'd say we all band together and file a suit against them if for nothing else the repairs to our techno stuff .............. a--hats !!!!!!!!!!! i refused there product here not too long ago when i updated another product as it was listed as a partner of sorts . think i may be ditching them too as how do i know it didn't come through them ?????????

 

That's what I did and it worked great.

 

By the way, understand that virus writers know about "system restore" !

Virus's writers today also don't usually want you to know they're there so they usually don't try to 'damage' your computer.

 

OK, so I had my vista X64 PC at home. I have the original Windows image, so I decided to try new grounds. Installing Ubuntu on the PC while I type this on the Laptop.

Wish me luck...

 

GOOD LUCK!! Although luck is not usually needed.....

Let me reiterate......the best safest way to install ANY Linux distribution for the first time is to use a spare (empty) drive.

Disconnect your current drive and just install it on the empty spare drive. That way, if you screw it up, or don't like it, you just plug the other (virus-ridden) drive back in!