how secure is your computer?

[Lostyx]

Those who claim that something is secure wear suits not hoodies.

Wearing a suit at work ... and a hoodie at home ...

i guess it says a lot ...

[Xires]

I work from home so I wear boxers.

To the topic; after beating the EXE about after a wine-based installation, I couldn't get it to reliably run.  Installing on a secured Windows VM resulted in a list of potential issues that didn't actually exist.  BS-ware trying to sell its shit.

Also, there are a lot of games for Linux these days.  Perhaps the major commercial ones are Windows-exclusive but then there are VMs.  Fsck dual-booting.  It's just a migraine waiting to happen.

Finally, there's nothing 'hard' about Linux.  Just throw away your preconceptions.  Forget everything you learned on Windows and start anew.  It's easier & more fun that way.

[Darkvision]

I work from home so I wear boxers.

Finally, there's nothing 'hard' about Linux.  Just throw away your preconceptions.  Forget everything you learned on Windows and start anew.  It's easier & more fun that way.

jobless so i go in the nude!


Anyway have to agree that linux back in say 1990 may have deserved its rap for being "harder" than windows. But so many features windows has(or has tried to have) it got directly from linux. Now a days you dont have to set up your OS for which modules you want to load etc(though you still can). hell for at least 5 years now linux has been easier to install than ANY windows. i mean its absurdly easy. sure the nitty grity of linux may be "hard" but then again so is windows.


Anyway unless you are the kind of person(like me) who spends the next 40+ hours after loading a windows OS tweeking it for maximum stability/security/performance then i doubt you actually even know windows. and IF you know windows that well, then learning at least the basics about linux is simple. and by knowing windows well i mean knowing what every service is and does without even looking at its description, knowing what other processes it ties into (if any, or that are dependent on it) knowing how to go into your registry and do well..what ever the fuck you want. This isnt ment to bash you or anything gh0st, but we all start somewhere, and sitting around saying "this is hard" makes ANYTHING a lot harder than it actually is. pick a OS or distro, learn the HELL out of it. then picking up anything else is simple. because at the end of the day they have to talk to each other and use the same hardware, which means you will find a LOT of common ground.

[Xires]

...
Anyway have to agree that linux back in say 1990 may have deserved its rap for being "harder" than windows. But so many features windows has(or has tried to have) it got directly from linux. Now a days you dont have to set up your OS for which modules you want to load etc(though you still can). hell for at least 5 years now linux has been easier to install than ANY windows. i mean its absurdly easy. sure the nitty grity of linux may be "hard" but then again so is windows.
..

This is very true.  I have a computer-illiterate sister who's been running Ubuntu for almost 3 years now with no problems, another sister running Kubuntu for 1 year without even a question, a 70 year old mother who runs Lubuntu on her laptop & Ubuntu on her desktop.  Years ago(over 10) I was approached by a woman over 65 wanting a computer, for the first time ever, to help her keep track of her kids & grand-kids as they'd all moved away.  Having 0 experience with any computer previously, I built a new machine for her & set her up on Slackware.  After learning the basics(logging in & how to find documentation like manpages & shit in /usr/doc/*), she took to it naturally without any real trouble(not even as much as most Windows users have).  She was NOT an exceptional case; she was no more intelligent or capable than anyone else.  It was simply a matter of getting a fresh start on Linux without any stupid preconceptions from Windows.  Linux can actually be easier than Windows.

[proxx]

This is very true.  I have a computer-illiterate sister who's been running Ubuntu for almost 3 years now with no problems, another sister running Kubuntu for 1 year without even a question, a 70 year old mother who runs Lubuntu on her laptop & Ubuntu on her desktop.  Years ago(over 10) I was approached by a woman over 65 wanting a computer, for the first time ever, to help her keep track of her kids & grand-kids as they'd all moved away.  Having 0 experience with any computer previously, I built a new machine for her & set her up on Slackware.  After learning the basics(logging in & how to find documentation like manpages & shit in /usr/doc/*), she took to it naturally without any real trouble(not even as much as most Windows users have).  She was NOT an exceptional case; she was no more intelligent or capable than anyone else.  It was simply a matter of getting a fresh start on Linux without any stupid preconceptions from Windows.  Linux can actually be easier than Windows.

*kneels before Xires for these wise words*

[Axon]

This is very true.  I have a computer-illiterate sister who's been running Ubuntu for almost 3 years now with no problems, another sister running Kubuntu for 1 year without even a question, a 70 year old mother who runs Lubuntu on her laptop & Ubuntu on her desktop.  Years ago(over 10) I was approached by a woman over 65 wanting a computer, for the first time ever, to help her keep track of her kids & grand-kids as they'd all moved away.  Having 0 experience with any computer previously, I built a new machine for her & set her up on Slackware.  After learning the basics(logging in & how to find documentation like manpages & shit in /usr/doc/*), she took to it naturally without any real trouble(not even as much as most Windows users have).  She was NOT an exceptional case; she was no more intelligent or capable than anyone else.  It was simply a matter of getting a fresh start on Linux without any stupid preconceptions from Windows.  Linux can actually be easier than Windows.

All hail Xires, the great teacher of knowledge.

[Xires]

Thanks, but my ego is more than adequately inflated.

[proxx]

Thanks, but my ego is more than adequately inflated.

My deepest apologies master Xires.
I shall never again abash you!
Have a cookie as a token of my appreciation.

[Darkvision]

Thanks, but my ego is more than adequately inflated.

mine isnt :*(. got a spare tire pump?


And yeah xires i think its more of the "syndrome" i see running everywhere at all times in the computer world(and even ive been prone to it here or their, we ALL get it) and that is that the tech changes so fast that sometimes even inside of a 6 month period a product that was great/bad can go the other direction. Look at people still bashing AMD as "not reliable" because they had processor fail well over a decade ago when they were first getting into the PC CPU business. but that stigma has stuck with them over a decade. Linux USED to be a LOT harder to use than it is now, and as you say i think for basic functionality on linux now its easier than windows, yet it still has this stigma as being harder to learn than latin, while standing on your head, singing the national anthem,  rubbing your head, patting your stomach and scratching your balls all at the same time. Or for that matter a company that used to be good that goes bad (dell/acer) that people just dont seem to catch on too. some of it is fan-boy kind of stuff sure. but a lot more of it is that people "learn" something in a fast paced field like this and then dont really think about how that could all change over night.


To me realizing that and always reminding ones self that this stuff changes day to day week to week and definitely year to year is a very important part of being an IT or a hacker. Another good example: in furs PC thread i stated that ATI has been ahead of nVidia for a while now, but that i wasnt sure where they stacked up to each other now(because i havent built a PC in a while), and nVidia has closed a lot of the gap between the cards now.(also stated that in a later post) but 6 months from now..who knows? its why i tend to qualify ANY answer i give when it comes to hardware with a "last i know of" because unless ive sat down in the past few days and checked, im not sure who is beating who on what.

[lucid]

This is very true.  I have a computer-illiterate sister who's been running Ubuntu for almost 3 years now with no problems, another sister running Kubuntu for 1 year without even a question, a 70 year old mother who runs Lubuntu on her laptop & Ubuntu on her desktop.  Years ago(over 10) I was approached by a woman over 65 wanting a computer, for the first time ever, to help her keep track of her kids & grand-kids as they'd all moved away.  Having 0 experience with any computer previously, I built a new machine for her & set her up on Slackware.  After learning the basics(logging in & how to find documentation like manpages & shit in /usr/doc/*), she took to it naturally without any real trouble(not even as much as most Windows users have).  She was NOT an exceptional case; she was no more intelligent or capable than anyone else.  It was simply a matter of getting a fresh start on Linux without any stupid preconceptions from Windows.  Linux can actually be easier than Windows.

That re-motivates me to install Debian on my girlfriend's computer. She keeps asking me to clean up her netbook...

Thanks, but my ego is more than adequately inflated.

It must be difficult to not be able to post on this forum without getting worshipped.

[Darkvision]

That re-motivates me to install Debian on my girlfriend's computer. She keeps asking me to clean up her netbook...

It must be difficult to not be able to post on this forum without getting worshipped.

hush with your blasphemy before i keelhaul you. All praise be to xires!!!

[Xires]

...
It must be difficult to not be able to post on this forum without getting worshipped.

It's not that I mind the compliments.  Having a severe lack of self-esteem, of course I love it.  However, I don't want to be deified.  I've found, over the years, that often people will deify another and subconsciously it makes that person's level an unattainable goal.  We are all still equals here, in one way or another.  I'm older than most and have spent a great deal of time on certain subjects that make me uniquely suited to answer different questions.  That does not mean that I'm 'better' than anyone else nor does it mean that my level of skill is unattainable by someone new.  I have had several students/apprentices who've started far later than I but surpass me in level of technical prowess.  My only advantage, in such situations, remains that I'm older and have more experience from which to draw upon; thus I am able to see patterns that others don't or know the likely result of a query based upon other knowledge(aka, 'wisdom').

My primary point is that I don't want to be deified.  I don't ever want someone thinking that they have nothing to teach me or that I'm somehow out of their league.  As several people can attest(Daemon, bluechill, Teddy, TurboBorland, Kulverstukas & others), I often ask for assistance, even when working on something that is not readily understood.

I hope I've explained it well enough; I'm quite tired and not sure if I've been adequately clear.  Remember that Buddha insisted on not being deified.  He simply stated that, over time & experience, he came to know his own path and offered it for others to learn from.  I'd like to do the same, in one way or another, but I certainly am not on the best possible path.  Still, learn from my path so as to avoid the same mistakes in your own.

Perhaps this would do better in a new topic or something...

[sleep]zZzzZzzz...

[lucid]

  I've found, over the years, that often people will deify another and subconsciously it makes that person's level an unattainable goal. 

That's completely true. In fact, it does sometimes seem that it is unattainable to achieve the skill level of say, you, for example. I have to actively remind myself that it's not.

Remember that Buddha insisted on not being deified.

As did Jesus and many others. Unfortunately for you Xires, I imagine the outcome will probably be the same.

EDIT: LOL! I just realized that I just compared Xires to Jesus and Buddha which directly contradicts this whole conversation. 

[proxx]

You understood the part where I was just joking around, thought you got that
I just blew up the fact that you had a point to make a point.

[lucid]

You understood the part where I was just joking around, thought you got that
I just blew up the fact that you had a point to make a point.

Don't worry I got that part