OSs can be Trouble!

OSs can be Trouble!

The best that anyone does on the problem of virus, worm and trojan infestations is 30% coverage. That leaves 70 per cent of the malware out there uncovered. Please read the link below.

AV vendors detect on average 19% of malware attacks

If anyone ever needed a reason to make the move to a linux system, this one is it. People are convinced that they can't work on a Linux Computer because it is a Command Line OS (operating system), that is not, and I emphasize, NOT, true. For several years now I have been running Ubuntu/Linux and I'm an old snot head, 65 years old. At the moment I have one unit running Ubuntu with Windoze in a Virtual Machine for those games and apps that I just am not willing to give up. Since it no longer gets on the web it is virus free, just like my Ubuntu!

On my other unit I am running Simply Mepis and it is another point and click system that is maintained better than Windoze ever will be and dose not have Heart-Attack disasters like Windoze. Linux, I'm told now comes in a thousand flavors, so there is one for everybody. If you have ever worked for a company running their office on Red Hat you already know that the systems built by the Lnux Community are not Command Line operated for the users. In the tradition of Red Hat and from the makers of Red Hat, there is Fedora, free of charge.

I have been pushing Ubuntu for, probably, better than three years now and with their last issue of version 10.04, Lucid Lynx, they took aim at business, it's that good of a system and boots very fast. My hope for my friends is that they will cease being ripped off by MicroSoft and learn that the best Point and Click (Windows Clone) systems cost nothing and will, like myself, will convert. The learning curve is almost, dead, flat.

And then (this needs it's own paragraph) there is the matter of truth, you are not trapped if you install it on your, now, Windoze Machine! Ubuntu, I know for a fact is, unlike MS, friendly with you existing OS, no mater who built it. It automatically creates a duel boot system and allows you to choose the system you wish to boot into.

And after you are comfortable with the Linux OS you have chosen you can download VirtualBox, now owned by Oracle, put your windoze on the VM (virtual machine), repartition the windoze partition with GParted (point and click partition manager) and expand your Linux partition to incluse all of the disk, if your happy with never having to scan, defrag the hard-drive and the other maintenance you need to do on any system from MS. it just makes sense not to waste Hundreds of dollars on machines that you can purchase without an OS on them and then spend thirty minutes to install a free system that you never work on and is updated almost every day.
 
Linux is no more secure than windows...
Its just not exploited as much in a desktop environment because people dont use it as much..
Hackers target the mainstream, they exploit linux servers with remote cmd line all the time, constantly, because linux is mainstream in the server world...

Iv never needed to defrag my windows 7 PC, runs perfectly..
You can remove all threat with the right tools..
I run avast and the free firewall from zonealarm and I also use spybot.info and mallwarebytes..

I am actually a linux fan myself, but I know that these claims of windows being less secure are just that, claims..
 
That's a nice way to say that I have either lied or no nothing of which I speak but it just ain't true! For a virus to be self actuating it has to know, by being programed in, every password on every linux computer in the world.
 
Since it has been made an issue here I believe it is important to know that I first began playing computer back in the early to mid seventies. I stopped programing because it cost me a marriage before I was saved. Today I am a totally disabled Vietnam Veteran and all I do is work on building new computers, labor free and repairing my friends and Church Families computers. In addition to these activities I work the software conflicts out for a number of people. I admit that I do these things for free because it is my past time and I love people.

You can always rest assured that I will never intentionally fib to you and just because I am a Linux fan, supporter and user does not make me prejudiced, the "FACT" that the folks at Redmond, MS, sell a much inferior product makes me prejudiced! The very simple truth of the matter is that on a windoze computer where you are the Administrator you computer is available to any virus that comes attached to your email. This condition is easily overlooked because of that title, Administrator. If you have a single user computer you have Admin. privileges by default and so does any one of those 70% of the yet to be covered viruses.

In a Linux computer, I'm talking Ubuntu 10.04 here you can set it up to automatically log you in without the password on your single user unit and yes, you have administrative privileges! The virus, on the other hand does not. Every time you find a mew game or other program you want to install you have the very small inconvenience of typing the password, it keeps the nasties from self installing. MicroSoft promised, back before Vista, that they were going to take Linux's lead and rewrite and shrink the kernal, making Windoze run faster, they lied! When ZD Net IT and reporter asked if they were also going to close the, then, 17 year old DOS hole that every hacker exploits she was answered with something to nature of "Why would we do that, then we couldn't execute a program from the Internet on that computer." All this old man could think of was, Duhhh!

Anyway, it's your choice!
 
Feel free to point out 3 self installing windows threats of the last 24 months...

Also I am not questioning you, but you know that.
I am stating that windows is just as safe as Linux, if used correctly.
 
I completely understand your position. You are a deeply entrenched Windows Lover that refuses to read the article I referenced and take into your mind and mull it over for what it is, fact! That, sir, is, exactly the position of the average Windoze User. They are so accustomed to paying rediculas prices for their Windoze OS that they cannot seriously evaluate the coming situation. I clean Windoze computers all the time for the full range of reasons from Norton or McAffee just let one slip by to the classic, I just forgot to renew.

As for the list your requesting, you'll need to do your own research, I'm just not that interested but I do believe the article referenced is true because the source is very reliable and trusted by IT's across the world. And, as I'm certain you know, with the advent of DSL, Drive-by attacks have just gone nuts. You might be like Jesus and never make a mistake but I and the rest of the world are not that perfect and one mistake is all it takes for a chain reaction to occur and another million computers are knocked down. We do not live in Heaven...yet! We reside here at the moment and dealing with reality is essential.

The fact is that no Windoze unit is as safe from infection as a Linux driven unit and the truth is that there are a large number of user friendly Linux systems available that are totally cost free and have about forty thousand free packages, known to windoze users as programs, available and they are written in such a manor as to be used by business' around the world in their daily business. Every one of the Debian line (Debian, Ubuntu, Mepis, Mint and on and on) are point and click systems that users have come to love.

You have made this personal, when in fact it is nothing of the sort. If you choose to be ripped off and you know better, you get exactly what you want and deserve. On the other hand there are a lot of folks out there that cannot afford to loose an extra $200 to buy the best version and I just want them to know that they can do better than "the best" and spend nothing for it.
 
Linux is no more secure than windows...
Its just not exploited as much in a desktop environment because people dont use it as much..
Hackers target the mainstream, they exploit linux servers with remote cmd line all the time, constantly, because linux is mainstream in the server world...

Iv never needed to defrag my windows 7 PC, runs perfectly..
You can remove all threat with the right tools..
I run avast and the free firewall from zonealarm and I also use spybot.info and mallwarebytes..

I am actually a linux fan myself, but I know that these claims of windows being less secure are just that, claims..

Then, what you are saying is that Linux is more secure -- but not for the reasons people think. I wonder how much Microsoft pays to put that message out there. They have been caught putting out mis-information on Linux; like one I remember was a training video they supplied for sales people at Best Buy.

Here is a link on an article on why Linux is more secure -- one I just found quickly.
Why Linux Is More Secure Than Windows - Yahoo! News

From what I understand by studying the issue personally, the Linux kernel is more secure by design, harder to break into, and that design is also what makes it so much more stable. I never even think about using a firewall or virus software in Linux. However, in justing using both OSs, I find Linux is so much better in stability and efficiency, I would find it hard to believe there is some way it is also not vastly superior in security.

I still use Windows XP for DTP. However, the more I use Linux, the more I hate the Windows experience. One of these days I will have to spend the $100 for PageStream for DTP and be done with Windows forever.
 
Iv read it all and done all my research..
Now, if you cant list SELF INSTALLING windows threats, then your argument is entirely invalid.

I am just not that naive to say that windows sucks, when I know it doesn't, users understanding of computers suck and people like you do not help it any...
Fact is if you dont install crap on windows, you will be right, if you have a free AV like avast that monitors for website mallware threats, user a good browser like chrome or Firefox, you will be pretty right...

It says something that I aint had a bad infection for years, so keeeeeep trying to bag out windows.

Like I said I use both, have used both and will keep using both, because they are both good.
 
Iv read it all and done all my research..
Now, if you cant list SELF INSTALLING windows threats, then your argument is entirely invalid.

I am just not that naive to say that windows sucks, when I know it doesn't, users understanding of computers suck and people like you do not help it any...
Fact is if you dont install crap on windows, you will be right, if you have a free AV like avast that monitors for website mallware threats, user a good browser like chrome or Firefox, you will be pretty right...

It says something that I aint had a bad infection for years, so keeeeeep trying to bag out windows.

Like I said I use both, have used both and will keep using both, because they are both good.
My friend, I thought from your screen name and presence in this forum that you might be a follower of Jesus, the Christ, but from your temperament and insertion of words I never said I'm dumb founded! I never once said that Windoze sucked, that is, at best, a fib. The fact that 'm not going to look up the names of the thousands of viruses that are not covered by any given anti-virus program does not, in any manor, negate my statements, they are not arguments. The only person here that is refusing to reason, as we Christians are called to do, is you.

I posted a true statement and gave the reference to ratify that statement. All that you have post have been remarks that have escalated to the point of personal insult and that is never helpful and it is sin!

The fact is that of the better than a thousand flavors of the Linux Distros, not one has had a virus, trojan nor worm attack since '96. Microsoft and Mac cannot make that statement, period. I do not run my computers on just what I like, I run them on what I know to be best for them. Now I did say self installing and I will back-up and qualify that remark. In, let's just say Ubuntu or Mepis, if I open am email and it has an attachment that I wish to open because it "appears" to have arrived in my mail box from a trusted friend, as soon as I click on it I will be asked for my password if it tries to install anything on my computer. With my Windoze, such is not true! With Windoze it can just install under most of their OSs that are still being used.

On top of that being the truth, my aim is primarily to keep persons that are, like myself, financially limited, from breaking the law and thereby sinning. I have, in the past downloaded an illegal copy of XP to find out if it was a scam or for real. It was there real thing with that darn thing already authenticated. I installed over it after I saw that it worked and I refuse to tell anyone how to find that download because it illegal! That, however does not stop folks, Christians from asking me if I can install anything from 98 up on their computers. I have all my disks since Windoze 3.1 and all the systems before XP will install without ever involving MS in any manor but it is illegal to do so and I instead install a Linux Distro on them and, I hope, help folks from diving off into sin.

Now, someday, if MS ever keeps the, unfulfilled, promise they started with in Windoze7 and they rewrite the kernel in the same style as the Linux Kernel, they will have done something worthy of note. But please, stop these, kill the messenger, attacks and let's deal, just, with the facts.
 
EDIT:
Opinion remains the same, theres so many things I could say but its best to just leave it there.
Actually that is as it should bne. I do not mind if you choose to waste your money buying a system that is proven inferior by use as well as testing. I am also happy that you seem to have matured a little as a Christian and can allow me and, hopefully, others to believe what has been tested and proven to be true.

Now, you are still free to form opinions and I am free to rely on the tested and proven facts and that is as it should be also. That being the way it is I can continue with mu crusade to stop folks from using inferior ( Win98, me, 2K and XP) systems illegally and everyone of them I can get to repent will make my Father happy.

Good day, good journey and good-bye!
 
Linux is well provided with long passwords of at least 150 characters, containing: letters, numbers and special characters - so you can spend a long time before passwords can be decrypted. Even better it is if you set some good firewall settings that at least to slowing some possible process of outside decrypting. Also, the password is good to be changed from time to time - this further will prevent the chance to be decrypted. And be careful with (the) clipboard, because it may prove that is possible to be hacked through some browser - keep it clear from any eventual password before to establish connection with internet.
 
I've been using Linux as the primary operating system since 2004 and I've no regrets (except I miss Cakewalk). I switched my parents over when Win 2000 became too old for any support and they are very happy with it and became far more confident users as the systems have been so stable.

Currently here, we have a my PC, my parents PC, a web server, tv server (mythtv - we can set up recordings [up to 5 simultanious if i really want!] and watch tv using any of the PCs/Laptop and share music and dvds all using free software), a shared laptop and a small very low power board all running Linux. The Laptop is dual boot with Vista Home but I very rarely use it and no one else in the household ever has cause to do.

My own preference for Desktop systems is OpenSuse (which personally with Yast I think is easier to configure than Ubuntu is even though the latter is often presented as the easiest) but milages vary... I also prefer the KDE Desktop to Gnome but again that is just personal preference and these choices make up what I thik is one of the other beauties of Linux. You have the choices to get the system as you want - a freedom.

Another popular one for Desktop use is Fedora. These three all have live CD versions to try without installing onto a computer. If anyone fancies a look:

OpenSuse: http://software.opensuse.org/113/en
Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download
Fedora: http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora

Oh an I'll give one more. Intended primarily as a Live distribution for CD/DVD/FlashDrive. Can be handy when your Window PC won't boot and you want to access some files ;)

http://www.knoppix.net/about.php
 
I have just installed my first linux package, Ubuntu, onto an older laptop that became available to me. I'm just playing around with it at present but so far I certainly like what's there. I sure do like the speed of booting. Some things I haven't quite figured out yet but if I work with it long enough I know I will. I've been a MS user since version beginning. I do like Win7 and I'm going to need to do some searching to find replacement apps for some of the stuff I do today but shouldn't be a big problem. I'm not so much interested in it because of security or such but I do like the price (free is always good) and I use several open source apps now which will be an easy migration. I also have some hardware issues on my current working laptop that I'll need to hunt down drivers for before I can start productively using linux on it. Overall though I don't see any major issues and I see much to like.

I might update as I go forward, or most like will forget to do so.
 
Yes, hardware is not quite as straightforward as you rarely get manufactures disks with Linux drivers but much is supported straight from the Linux distribution CD/DVD. I think the only one I have at the moment is I can not get 3D graphics acceleration to work with the Via Chrome graphics on my Laptop but as I don't use anything requiring that, it is not a problem to me.

I think one thing one does start to do is a little research before buying new hardware, eg. I know I need to look up if I'm considering a TV card, I know nVidia graphics have always done well for me, etc.

Anyway, good luck with your Linux usage.
 
I've been using Linux as the primary operating system since 2004 and I've no regrets (except I miss Cakewalk). I switched my parents over when Win 2000 became too old for any support and they are very happy with it and became far more confident users as the systems have been so stable.

Currently here, we have a my PC, my parents PC, a web server, tv server (mythtv - we can set up recordings [up to 5 simultanious if i really want!] and watch tv using any of the PCs/Laptop and share music and dvds all using free software), a shared laptop and a small very low power board all running Linux. The Laptop is dual boot with Vista Home but I very rarely use it and no one else in the household ever has cause to do.

My own preference for Desktop systems is OpenSuse (which personally with Yast I think is easier to configure than Ubuntu is even though the latter is often presented as the easiest) but milages vary... I also prefer the KDE Desktop to Gnome but again that is just personal preference and these choices make up what I thik is one of the other beauties of Linux. You have the choices to get the system as you want - a freedom.

Another popular one for Desktop use is Fedora. These three all have live CD versions to try without installing onto a computer. If anyone fancies a look:

OpenSuse: http://software.opensuse.org/113/en
Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download
Fedora: http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora

Oh an I'll give one more. Intended primarily as a Live distribution for CD/USB/FlashDrive. Can be handy when your Window PC won't boot and you want to access some files ;)

http://www.knoppix.net/about.php
Thanks for the informed input, it is appreciated. Now, since this has settled down and is not pointed towards a confrontation I need to explain some terms used in my OP. I did not enter into a Tech Forum to make my comments and I did not, for that reason, go Techy on you folks. (By-the-way, great post jonbanjo!) Because I deal with Computer Users on a large scale, I have learned not to be precise in my terminology when addressing folks that do not build or program computers. As a result, I seek to be non-confrontational when dealing with users and it is exactly there that my overly technical agitator went.

People open emails, every day, that should not be opened. They are even at fault for clicking on attachments they never should have opened and if I look at you virus, trojan and worm riddled computer and tell you that you are stupid, even if I insinuate that such is the case by telling you that this mess is your fault, our friendship status is questionable and you might never return for a free cleaning again. For that reason, I have applied the principals learned from the scriptures to my Computer friends.

The "Self Installing" virus' and other maladies are so termed by myself and other friendly geeks because they do not require authentication as they do in the, better than 1000, Linux Operating Systems and thus the, admitted, misnomer, "Self Installing." The email is, and I admit it, the most popular engine for the spread of these infections and "IF" we, techs, could (it's impossible) educate the world of Computer Users the problem would be minimized but not eliminated. The Computer World is driven by High Speed ISPs today that leave the computer, vulnerable, to hackers as long as the power switch is turned on. thus these "Self Installing" maladies are also executable by a hacker you never knew was even on line, let alone in your computer doing nasty things to it. These attacks are mostly used against governments and large companies but, by no means is the individual exempt from such an attack. For such an attack to take place in a Linux computer, the hacker must know or spend hours and possibly days trying to determine your password.

The indisputable truth, now! Since making the move to Linux/Ubuntu, early in '07 I have been besieged exactly one time and that was by an employee of Microsoft because I upset him by telling the truth about the Backdoor built into Windows7 by the NSA, in cooperation with MS and I asked him, "You folks patented a Keystroke Mapper, just before 7 was released, but it is not for sale, is it hidden in Win7 and is it to be included in future updates for Vista and where does it report to?" Two days latter, my harddisk was full of nonsense and required me to remove over 200 gig of trash from it and when we spoke again his first comment was about how safe was Linux from outside attacks, you be the judge, I know what I concluded. For all the time and effort required to fill my disk on Ubuntu, my fault for only 4 numbers and two letters in the password, I cleaned the drive in less than ten minutes and the only problem it caused was the inability to download a large program until i cleaned out the trash.

I'll say this, some of my friends in the IT World have been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the world of Windows to earn a living... they run Linux OSs and they use Linux software to clean and to maintain their companies Windows units. As jonbanjo has stated, the Linux folks have written some very user friendly systems for the Computer User and I'll say it once more, "They are free!"
 
I have just installed my first linux package, Ubuntu, onto an older laptop that became available to me. I'm just playing around with it at present but so far I certainly like what's there. I sure do like the speed of booting. Some things I haven't quite figured out yet but if I work with it long enough I know I will. I've been a MS user since version beginning. I do like Win7 and I'm going to need to do some searching to find replacement apps for some of the stuff I do today but shouldn't be a big problem. I'm not so much interested in it because of security or such but I do like the price (free is always good) and I use several open source apps now which will be an easy migration. I also have some hardware issues on my current working laptop that I'll need to hunt down drivers for before I can start productively using linux on it. Overall though I don't see any major issues and I see much to like.

I might update as I go forward, or most like will forget to do so.
I don't know the age of the older unit but if you want it to run like a Zebra with a Lion 2 inches off it's rump, install Puppy Linux. Puppy will run on as little as 32 meg of memory and really gives new and very useful life to older units.

Happy computing!
 
Yes, hardware is not quite as straightforward as you rarely get manufactures disks with Linux drivers but much is supported straight from the Linux distribution CD/DVD. I think the only one I have at the moment is I can not get 3D graphics acceleration to work with the Via Chrome graphics on my Laptop but as I don't use anything requiring that, it is not a problem to me.

I think one thing one does start to do is a little research before buying new hardware, eg. I know I need to look up if I'm considering a TV card, I know nVidia graphics have always done well for me, etc.

Anyway, good luck with your Linux usage.
Have you searched the Via site? I've had really good luck there and in the recent past it has been less than a year before the drivers seem to make it into the linux system.
 
I suppose one other point I haven't seen mentioned (sorry Bill if I've missed something) is that while Linux is still a minority (but still growing) system for Desktop/Home users. It (along with other Unix/Unix like, eg. BSD) is hugely successful in server applications performing tasks companies depend on. Many major companies including Google (at least last time I looked) use it for their web sites.

Another area btw Linux is used a fair bit is in embedded applications. Your recorder attached to the TV or the set top box for example could well be running Linux!
 
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