Here's a Testimonial for Linux

[mommalina]

http://www.download.com/1200-2023_4-5165848.html?messageID=2194470&tag=btn

"Must be a Windows Thing"
by jdieter (see profile) - September 12, 2006

I've let everyone use my pc, my children, mom, everyone for anything they want, and NOTHING bad has ever happened. No viruses, no spyware, no nothing. Is Linux (ubuntu) really that much better than windows? Or have I just been lucky?

[Tortanick]

Very lucky guy if the family didn't delete anything or change the settings. No viruses is unspurising, since only about 40 of them exist in total. Many of those are useless unless you're running an out of date server.

[fleamailman]

Linux is like pot luck, if you have the right one, it really is wonderful, and maybe soon they will come out with a plug and play style. I cannot say that I like XP but as long as don't play their protection game, it does offer a good load of things that linux has yet to do.

[jcampi]

Someone told me Apple's OS is based on Linux. Is this true?

[Tortanick]

Fleamailman: Linux dose have plug and play allready. I can't persoanlly say I know how effective it is but I've heard its good. Although I'd quite like to see more hardware people publishing linux drivers as standard.

jcampi: No its not, both MacOSX and Linux are part of the UNIX family, but MacOSX is based on the BSD implimentaiton of UNIX, not Linux. That said you'll be glad to know that many programs work just fine on any UNIX, there's more to the family than a shared history :)

[fleamailman]

Which linux has plug and play then? - asks someone who now very interested and grateful.

[Tortanick]

Well all linux distros autoconfigure hardware when installed, With the proboble exception of linux from scratch. I never tested to see what happens if you change hardware after install though.

Remember though that hardware companies don't all support Linux

I'd recomend PClinuxOS if you like to have lots of stuff presetup. just install libdvdcss (illegal in the US, so not preinstalled) to enable playing DVD movies. and lookup ATI and nvidia on the offical website, I'm not sure how much of a diffrence it makes but its recomended

[fleamailman]

http://developers.videolan.org/libdvdcss/

I have been using vlc for years, are you saying that vlc is ilegal in states then, it was introduced to my by the BBC in one of their programs, and Switzerland has no rules either way.

[Tortanick]

I can't actually find any lawerys guide to libdvdcss but I think its illegal in the USA, no court has ever challanged it though.

I can find lots of people saying ask a lawyer before useing it though

[fleamailman]

Last question on this vlc thing, I didn't actually download libdvdcss but is it the vlc multi program codex reader or something else, it seemed it has a strange download way so I chickened out.

[Tortanick]

VLC media player uses Libdvdcss, chances are if you got it for windows libdvdcss will have been part of the download.

I may get it seems really good.

[qldit]

Good Morning Gentlemen, I just read the first post on this thread, I strongly suspect that poster has ability to walk on water, as that would be a normal kind of expectaion for anyone with windows not affected by malware of some description.

I suspect that post is a perfect example of absolute sarcasm!!!

I think the next method of infection of Windows will even be be through mains power, that system is so incredibly susceptible.

Certainly nice to use an operating system on-line with relative pleasure, rather than concern!
Linux provides that situation, Windows does not!
Cheers, qldit.

[fleamailman]

Not sure I understood the last poster's overall direction sarcasm's drawback is that one has to guess, for or against, but one point he made was very true that is Internet over the mains leaves a lot of room for new malware type infection.

[qldit]

Good Morning fleamailman, actually I was inferring that mains modulation may be designed to affect a running system, rather than Internet over the mains.
I have never seen a modern windows system that meets the description in that first post.
It simply doesn't happen anymore.
qldit.

[fleamailman]

Someone remind me to always read the link given next time, there was I thinking it was a plug for linux and now I see it is a plug for window XP, and so I can agree with everyone and clearly say that not having any malware is bad for ones education about systems, I feel sorry for them then.

[qldit]

Good Afternoon fleamailman,

Yes, you appreciate why I am suspicious that someone is simply fishing for comments as a bit of a sarcastic joke!! LOL!!

I strike infected windows machines on a daily basis, even people who are adamant that they have no problem usually have some malware in their machines.

It commonly happens that antiviral monitoring programs are disabled by malware so the owners that are confident they have no problems when it couldn't be further from the truth.
It is the ones with online activity when there shouldn't be, that are interesting!
(as apart from bit-torrent kind of operation)
Cheers, qldit.

[fleamailman]

Agreement, total here, the point I am making is that all this malware makes the victim wiser, the simplest way to understand this is to ask oneself 'well, what do I know about the runnings of the telephone or the television', so in that sense malware, together with piracy has done a grest deal in opening up the system's layout and running.

- malware is something they want to give you which you don't want
- piracy is something you want that they don't want to give you

[jcampi]

Linux is open source (free), but most PC users in the world still use MS Windows. Doesn't that speak volumes?! If Linux is free and is 'so great' wouldn't you think MS would be out of business and most computers would use Linux?

[Tortanick]

It says a lot about humans and nothing about Linux vs Windows

[jcampi]

Tortanick, that's your opinion. If it's free and it were that good everyone would use it. It does say something about human behavior. Are you saying mostly everyone is stupid or making the wrong choice?

[Tortanick]

People just don't care about computers enough to know that an alternative exists.

[qldit]

Linux is open source (free), but most PC users in the world still use MS Windows. Doesn't that speak volumes?! If Linux is free and is 'so great' wouldn't you think MS would be out of business and most computers would use Linux?

Good Morning jcampi, actually you would no doubt be aware that file system types have been altering completely every few years with MS products, computing power has also needed to make massive leaps to maintain cotact with the greater operational needs.
This has enormous repercussions for all kinds of data storage, especially in areas like government record keeping and traditional long term record storage.
Many countries governments are now changing to Linux systems, because of this ridiculous abnomaly.
China is a typical example of applied acceptance either way.

The major problem is that MS systems are so heavilly embedded that even university courses need to be restructured, this also applies to technical expertise generation.

The incredible reliance placed on MS systems and the way in which these systems have evolved within industry is astounding, typically a building industry organisation can electronically design homes, the specifications, the supplies, the frame fabrication, the kitchen design and even at lower levels, the machine control for all the routers and assembly mechanisms, so everything was becoming entirely integrated, and altering filesystems or operating system components often meant all those associated industries also needed to follow any changes downstream.
So any industry in this loop had to change or lose that integration ability.

Entire ocean liners cabins communication systems were entirely dependent on MS systems, where thousands of stand-alone computer systems controlled in-cabin functions, announcements and even responsive TV systems using special networking arrangements.

Just these few examples of the terrible dependence that was being placed on such a pathetically inferior system as Windows, is mind-boggling, this is just scratching the surface.
Much of the associated hardware was actually even designed for MS systems!

Where this really comes home to cause concern, is where enormous utility providers use these systems for control.
I would suspect that should a system crash happen, typically in the US, that entire manual control of utilities may not even be possible.
This has equivalent effect as if it were a series of EMP devices.
So strategically, reliance on MS Windows or these type systems is not very clever at all!

In reality the potential reliance circumstance could be catastrophic if a really hostile technical enemy wanted to apply electronic warfare principles, you must also remember that one of the current conditions is to have a current system where governmental agencies themselves can enter systems, so it is not difficult to understand that technical amateurs could easily use these principles and it should also be understood that most likely, amateurs would be significantly more advanced technically than any governmental organisation purely by progressive parrallel collaboration of technical expertise.

A complete massive industry was spawned from trying to protect windows, yet more innovation keeps getting placed in that system to further reduce it's security integrity, thus making protection much mor complex progressively.

Much of the problems with Linux has been trying to maintain some contact with MS Systems.
This system is really designed intelligently from the ground up, it is generations ahead of Windows systems security-wise.
A sensible solution would be for MS to adopt the Linux system and become more involved globally as a global solution rather than a global problem.

Much of this problem with Linux is associated with needing to know and understand more technically, and to be able to operate and use it properly.

I would suggest that anyone having learned Windows also finds operating in other systems difficult initially, apart from having a base of trained technical proffessionals.

But that is changing.

Many organisations are beginning to become involved with Linux systems.
Initially the changeover appears to be no financial benefit, due to costs for retraining, industrial disruption in the transition period, lack of technical support persons and other associated kinds of things.

I regularly set machines up for people with Linux installed, some as dual boots, and they have no major further problems as previously with windows crashes and viral disruptions and the need for endless scans and updates.
They can use linux as online operations and transfer material from one system to another if needed.
So it is like a breath of fresh air for many people.

Linux is a developing system, it has innovative ongoing improvements happening progressively all the time, in the main this entire development is being done for virtually no reward by a worldwide network and colection of interested technical and other people generally, whose major interest is reliable, inexpensive computing systems.
It is a classic example of concentrated parrallel thought with everyone collaborating for a common aim to help everyone else.

If I were on a ship that had a catastrophic problem and all the passengers needed reliable communication warnings, designing a comprehensive utility control system for a national grid system, or needing a reliable operating system for systems control in space craft or whatever, suddenly these kinds of situations need operating systems that have decent integrity, are reliable and can function safely.

In conclusion, anyone involved with use of computers for things apart from playing games would be well advised to learn something about Linux or an operating System apart from MS Windows.

Cheers, qldit.

[RAK]

Someone remind me to always read the link given next time, there was I thinking it was a plug for linux and now I see it is a plug for window XP, and so I can agree with everyone and clearly say that not having any malware is bad for ones education about systems, I feel sorry for them then.

I've let everyone use my pc, my children, mom, everyone for anything they want, and NOTHING bad has ever happened. No viruses, no spyware, no nothing. Is Linux (ubuntu) really that much better than windows? Or have I just been lucky?

I read this as a testimonial to Linux(Ubuntu in particular), rather than a boast about Windows. The author seems to be amazed at the security of Ubuntu. The sparseness of the post could lead one to different conclusions, though. From what I gathered, the second reply was meant as a reminder not to allow someone to log in as "root", since then, undesirable accidents could occur.

Although linux in any iteration is substantially very different from any windows program, The ability to erase the wrong file, delete things accidentally, and change user settings exists in just about all OS's. So, either you have a family with a collective common sense ratio far higher than the average family, or, Your time is near!