Linux, Security, Distros And Usage

[livinthailandos]

well since this is a forum for linux, you know everyone has there own choice of linux distro to use, even though many distros come by many names slackware, Mandriva, OpenSuse, Fedora, Ubuntu, really it seems to come down to a choice of really are you choosing to use

A. Redhat and its packages .rpm

B. Debian and its packages .deb

for more advanced users or those who can already compile everything from source code it doesn't matter I suppose

even though most linux distros all have similiar things in common, I was wanting to know from users out there

1. what made you switch to linux anyway

2. What challanges, problems came up with using the distro you are on that you had to fix

3. What things do you particular like about your distro you are using

4. Anything you feel could be done better for linux if so what

5. What is the main purpose you have for using your linx distro, ( work, play, etc )

ON SECURITY MATTERS

it should pointed out that realistically linux doesn't get much of anything concerning virus, spyware etc due to its less than 1% marketshare, but beyond that, if and when mass production of spyware, virus, etc hit linux, it seems like they'll be going to either red hat, debian based packages, maybe both, just my opinion. I am curious to an answer I've heard as far as updating critical updates. linux by far is faster and more up to date than windows or mac is this true? if so is it because there are X amount of people who work with linux.

[slackula]

I won't bore everybody with all the reasons why Slackware is the best and all the other distros suck, but Distrowatch has an interesting overview of the top ten distros which gives all the reasons why Slackware is the best and all other distros suck

But seriously if you are fishing around for a new distro to try before you switch to Slackware for ever and ever and ever it is quite a good article to start at.

Edited December 10, 2008 by slackula

[zzdocxx]

I know almost zero about Linux, but a friend has started learning it, he is trying out Ubuntu and Mint.

I guess those are just for total noobs?

Main question for me is, would they get the job done. Mainly I just surf the net, view youtube vids and such, do some word documents. Every now and then get into photoshop, does Linux have something comparable to that?

OK dumb questions but maybe if you guys like to discuss Linux you wouldn't mind enlightening me.

[niller74]

1. what made you switch to linux anyway

I began to work with Linux many years ago before kernel 1 was released. I came from Unix (SGI and Sun) and found Linux an interesting alternative to the expensive Unix platforms. Over the years I have enjoyed the rapid development and increased stability of several different distributions. I do have experience with BSD as well, but since this thread is about Linux I will keep it at that.

2. What challanges, problems came up with using the distro you are on that you had to fix

In the very beginning most things barely worked.

3. What things do you particular like about your distro you are using

Server/Embedded - Gentoo is probably the most flexible distribution, and allow me to tailor installations from tiny embedded platforms to full blown clustered servers.

Desktop/Laptop - Ubuntu seems to be support most hardware with only minor adjustments.

4. Anything you feel could be done better for linux if so what

Gentoo still suffer from the turmoil that happened some time ago where several lead devs left for other projects. Things are slowly beginning to get back to normal though and there seems to be an overall strategy again.

Ubuntu is on the right track. They still need to work more on the documentation. Furthermore I dont really like the sudo approach, but I guess it is good for 95% of its users.

5. What is the main purpose you have for using your linx distro, ( work, play, etc )

Work, work and only work.....

Dists over the years...

Unix: Irix, Solaris --> Linux: Own build, Red Hat, Debian, Gentoo, LFS, Ubuntu

[livinthailandos]

Dear zzdocxx

Mainly I just surf the net, view youtube vids and such, do some word documents. Every now and then get into photoshop, does Linux have something comparable to that? yes actually,

surf the net firefox

word documents compartable open office or abiword just make sure when you save as you save in the microsoft other wise it saves in open office file and microsoft can't open open office files

as far as photoshop try gimp.

if you are familiar with .exe files with windows, then for ubuntu its .deb, for linux you also should be willing to be

open minded

expect things to happen

get lots of information

not matter if your new, just ask i'll do my best and others to help you.

make sure you get lots of information with linux its really not like windows in some ways

check out

madberry.org for a few things

tombuntu.com for a few things

www.linuxnewbieguide.org

http://www.linux.com/articles/113155

[adammike]

OK so I use Ubuntu I surf the net, download music some e-books [sony PRS-505 cool]

download the odd movie watch a bit of porn the normal stuff that men do.

I do my banking online and only use the pc with ubuntu when i need to use my creditcard.

I have no anti-virus and the only firewall is with the router

so how safe am i?

I have a pc with vista that is new and fast but I never put cc details with that i only use AVG with that.

I also have a Acer1 net book running linux,and a Nokia810 internet tablet.

If i have to use my CC to pay bills ,airline tickets,banking etc i only use the pc running ubuntu.

what do i need?

[jackk]

the only firewall is with the router

so how safe am i?

You DO have a firewall in your Linux distro, one of the best and most powerful : iptables

That's the main difference between Linux and Windows : it's there, it's working well, and it doesn't bother you every 5 mn with a pop-up window telling you it has blocked this or that

$ man iptables

[slackula]

I always found configuring iptables to be a pain in the azz. Firestarter is a great front end that is simple to set up and can even be used to share your wired connection over a laptop's wireless quite easily. I did that for a long time before I shelled out for an access point.

[gabrieldowntown]

A. Redhat and its packages .rpm

B. Debian and its packages .deb

Yes I have used both A and B. I prefer A. The reason why, one time I had to install some servers that had the latest and greatest RAID card. Redhat already had the driver, while getting it compiled into the kernel of our debian release was a three ring circus, not fun.

1. what made you switch to linux anyway

Going to school for Computer Science, I wanted to do all my homework on a Linux O/S so I went to the store and bought one. I started out with Suse, for some reason, perhaps it was on sale for a cheaper price than Red Hat, this was in 2001.

2. What challanges, problems came up with using the distro you are on that you had to fix

A zillion problems. It never ends. (Talking about my work scenario, working with backend servers) People are always wanting new stuff installed and config changes and what have you. (While at home) I am profoundly underwhelmed with Linux as a desktop and don't bother, although I still try it every six months or so. I only use Linux for work, mostly with a Putty ssh client from Windows XP.

3. What things do you particular like about your distro you are using

CentOS, a variant of Red Hat, is common to industry, so whatever trivia I learn about working with it might be relevant for the future.

4. Anything you feel could be done better for linux if so what

Too late for that, some really geeky and personally annoying conventions from 1970 will never go away.

5. What is the main purpose you have for using your linx distro, ( work, play, etc )

Work.

ON SECURITY MATTERS

Use a Firewall or iptables

[Crushdepth]

1. what made you switch to linux anyway

Curiosity, mainly. And I guess I wanted to use 'the best' thing that was available. But now I think both Linux and M$ have different strengths and uses, so I dual boot my laptop.

2. What challanges, problems came up with using the distro you are on that you had to fix.

It took me about 3 tries to actually become comfortable with using Linux. The first couple of times had unhappy endings. I tried SuSe on the recommendation of a number of people and found the standard distribution to be bug ridden and full of broken software. It was *less stable than windows*. (Before you say no it wasn't, yes it bloody was! This was a number of years ago, I presume it has improved). I tried Mandrake and liked that a bit better, but ended up binning it. Ubuntu and Gnome...at last, something that more or less worked without too much research on how to fix it.

3. What things do you particular like about your distro you are using

Ubuntu...it is sufficiently working out of the box not to trouble a new user and comes with most things you need for everyday use, but then I'm running a laptop not a server. The software installer is dead simple. I appreciate the regular release cycle and would probably appreciate the long term support if I could convince my work to adopt it. Which unfortunately, I can't.

4. Anything you feel could be done better for linux if so what

User friendliness still has a long way to go. But that is largely a cultural issue and not going to go away. A lot of people just don't care about that and say 'its more powerful'. I look at power in a slightly different way. To me, a system that can be used by idiots (the masses) is more powerful than a more functional system that can only be used by a minority. There is sophistication in simplicity, but it's not easy to design something that is both highly functional and easy to use

5. What is the main purpose you have for using your linx distro, ( work, play, etc )

Just tooling around. I don't need it, I just like it. I'm thinking about shifting all my web and the (very basic) server interaction work I have to the Ubuntu partition. Unfortunately, there are some key work related things I can't do in Linux because of lack of support by commercial software publishers (dam_n you, Adobe). If I had a different job, I would not run windows on my laptop out of principle, but I would keep it on my home desktop so I can play games.