For what it's worth, here's a request for testimonies of full switch from Windows to Linux and insights into how a secure system can be set up newbies.
J.D. Abolins Meyda Online -- Infosec & Privacy Studies Web site: http://www.MeydaOnline.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 15:07:40 -0800 From: Carolyn Meinel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [hh-unix] Linux for Newbies for Christmas? Are there any versions of Linux so good that you could convert your parents into penguin addicts? So good that for a holiday gift you could persuade them to let you give them a Linux box and actually use it? Every Linux fan says it is more stable than any flavor of Windows -- if what you want is a server. But how about for an ordinary user? And how do you set up your GUI and stock it with cool free programs so that no one can resist it? If you have long weaned yourself away from Windows and use Linux for all your daily computing, I'd like to hear from you. In particular, does your favorite distribution have a default installation mode that automatically protects the user from him/herself and all the script kiddies out there? Does it make it easy to get online? Have you found a distribution that automatically detected your Winmodem? Printer? Scanner? R/W CD? I was impressed by newbie-friendly security of the lastest SuSE (8.1). The default for a workstation installation with modem is to turn on the firewall whenever the dial-up is active. Setting file permissions to "paranoid" in the control panel even disabled su. On the basis of installation on just two different hardware configurations, I'd say latest version of SuSE is pretty good at setting up most graphics and sound cards, printers and "real" modems, and mounting fat-type file systems. However, when you get to more challenging peripherals, it sometimes tells you it has detected and installed something but it still doesn't work. In particular, if the person you hope to convert plays DVD movies, that whole topic is, ahem, kind of controversial. SuSE works well with wine for running .exe type programs. However, it seems like our objective should be to get our favorite Windows addicts to move over to free applications designed to run on Linux such as Open Office, Gimp and so on. What programs have you found most appealing? I'm focusing on things you can do within either KDE or Gnome. From personal experience I'd say that both of them are not quite ready for prime time. For example, one time recently I had to ssh into a box and reboot it that way because while in Gnome (as an ordinary user) somehow it disabled the keyboard. Another time , agasin as an unprivileged user, KDE got so screwed up that every time I logged in as the victim user, KDE crashed. The only way I could figure out to fix it was to delete the user (while not deleting the home directory), delete .kde in the user's home directory, then recreate the user. Yeah, sure, if I'd gone through .kde with a fine tooth comb maybe I could have found the offending file. But if a newbie were to have this kind of trouble, what would she do? I'm not saying KDE or Gnome crash more often than Windows. However, if it is going to be used by non-expert, you have to expect them to kind of panic when they don't see that blue screen of death or general protection fault. Will the novice user just hit the reset button? How many novices don't has an UPS? Have any of you tried out hitting reset often enough to figure out if fsck on your version of Linux is pretty good at cleaning up the mess of a power out? Thanks for hearing me out, and even more thanks to anyone who will share their experiences with me. The goal is to get out a GTMHH that will get a few thousand of our 20k mail list out of Windoze and into Linux. -- 505-281-9675 http://techbroker.com http://happyhacker.org Gravity. It's not just a good idea. It's the law. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Share the magic of Harry Potter with Yahoo! Messenger http://us.click.yahoo.com/4Q_cgB/JmBFAA/46VHAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Please send all submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Subscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
