Hey Charles, welcome aboard! I didn't attend the pizza get together last night due to illness, but feeling better today. I agree with you, most distributions don't do a very good job of introducing Linux to newbies and converts from other operating systems. There is a lot of knowledge assumed on the part of the installer, or at least some in depth manual reading. I've always assumed RedHat would take the lead here due to their massive amounts of $ relative to other distributions and make a distribution aimed at newbies. There are a number of efforts aimed at newbies, such as Ximian.com, Natilus (RIP), SEUL.org, and others. I've heard that certain distributions were very user friendly, such as SUSE and Mandrake. One effort I'm interested in is the Linux Standard Base (linuxbase.org). This is an effort to standardize Linux around certain conventions like file systems and software package management. I think it is inevitable that Linux will become more user friendly, but it will take a little while longer. Give it some time, Linux has only been around for 10 years. :) John <p>--- "Charles J. Lingo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <em>> Comments from a "Newbie" at Linux (Chuck Lingo - <em>> visitor at Gatti's) <em>> <em>> If the Corel distribution had included a driver for <em>> the built-in <em>> Winmodem in my laptop, I could easily have provided <em>> the same access to <em>> RAW SOCKETS as Win-XP is going to provide. <em>> <em>> I recently installed Corel Linux on my Acer Laptop. <em>> Last night Dustin <em>> kindly moved my Star Office from ROOT to a non-ROOT <em>> directory for me. <em>> It wasn't until after installation and installing SO <em>> as ROOT that I <em>> realized that I should have installed as USER rather <em>> than ROOT. I knew <em>> that there had to be an easy way to do this move, <em>> but I couldn't find <em>> it. Nor could I find a way to do it in KDE. This <em>> could have been <em>> prevented if there was on the CD a "readme" that <em>> clearly. but briefly, <em>> explained the arrangement of the Linux file system <em>> and where things <em>> should be placed and WHY. The WHY at this point <em>> should be short and non <em>> technical, just enough information to prevent big <em>> mistakes, like <em>> installing everything as ROOT. <em>> <em>> I expect this problem to increase as more beginners <em>> (with Linux) like me <em>> buy, are given, or download distributions. We <em>> beginners are usually <em>> coming from other systems that are much more <em>> insecure. We may have <em>> decided to try Linux because we have heard that it <em>> is a much more <em>> securable system, but we are usually coming from a <em>> system where almost <em>> everything was done as what would be the SUPERUSER <em>> in Linux. We try to <em>> use past experience and that past experience guides <em>> us incorrectly. <em>> <em>> In retrospect, I may have succeeded a long time ago <em>> with a Linux <em>> installation if I had known the actual drive size <em>> that I needed for what <em>> would be installed and had had better information <em>> about directory <em>> structure. Is there any way that BRLUG could <em>> influence the producers of <em>> distributions to include something like this? <em>> <em>> Chuck <em>> <em>> <em>> <em>> <em>> <em>> Dustin Puryear wrote: <em>> <em>> > Well, geez. Name one commercial system that has <em>> ever actually done <em>> > security right. ;-) <em>> > <em>> > Regards, Dustin <em>> > <em>> > John Hebert wrote: <em>> > <em>> > > --- Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <em>> > > <em>> > >>Hmm. Is this about the raw socket deal with <em>> Windows <em>> > >>XP? Raw sockets have <em>> > >>been available in the UNIX world for a while, so <em>> I <em>> > >>guess that means UNIX <em>> > >>vendors are no better? <em>> > >> <em>> > > <em>> > >>From my understanding of Gibson's writings, he <em>> says <em>> > > that raw sockets are a problem in Windows XP <em>> because <em>> > > most people use M$ Windows operating systems <em>> > > (well, duh) AND M$ doesn't seem to have its act <em>> > > together when it comes to network security <em>> (hmmm, <em>> > > he's got a point). So, distributing M$ Windows <em>> XP <em>> > > with raw sockets for home users who don't <em>> properly <em>> > > secure their machines will only give DDOS script <em>> > > kiddies more platforms to attack from. <em>> > > <em>> > > :P <em>> > > <em>> > > John <em>> > > <em>> > > <em>> __________________________________________________ <em>> > > Do You Yahoo!? <em>> > > Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! <em>> Mail <em>> > > http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ <em>> > > ================================================ <em>> > > BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group <em>> > > Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. <em>> > > Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change <em>> > > your subscription information. <em>> > > ================================================ <em>> > > <em>> > > . <em>> > > <em>> > > <em>> > <em>> > -- <em>> > Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <em>> > http://members.telocity.com/~dpuryear <em>> > In the beginning the Universe was created. <em>> > This has been widely regarded as a bad move. - <em>> Douglas Adams <em>> > <em>> > ================================================ <em>> > BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group <em>> > Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. <em>> > Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change <em>> > your subscription information. <em>> > ================================================ <em>> <em>> ================================================ <em>> BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group <em>> Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. <em>> Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change <em>> your subscription information. <em>> ================================================ <p>__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ================================================ BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change your subscription information. ================================================ <!-- body="end" --> <hr noshade> <ul> <li><strong>Next message:</strong> John Hebert: "Re: [brluglist] Fw: Steve Gibson's July/2001 News from GRC.COM ..." <li><strong>Previous message:</strong> Charles J. Lingo: "Re: [brluglist] Fw: Steve Gibson's July/2001 News from GRC.COM ..." <li><strong>In reply to:</strong> Charles J. Lingo: "Re: [brluglist] Fw: Steve Gibson's July/2001 News from GRC.COM ..." <li><strong>Next in thread:</strong> Vic Landry: "RE: [brluglist] Fw: Steve Gibson's July/2001 News from GRC.COM ..." <li><strong>Messages sorted by:</strong> [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ] </ul> <hr noshade>
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