Linux: The Mom & Pop's Operating System

Linux Gazette ^ | July 2010 | Anderson Silva

[ChinaThreat]

I have to agree with you, from an end-user perspective, Ubuntu and Mint are the best. (Mint is a debian/ubuntu derivative). I administer unix and linux systems for a living, and i think Redhat/CentOS are the best enterprise linux distros.

I think Mint is better than ubuntu 10 because they have made it even easier to to get flash playing.

While the linux OSes are getting closer and closer for mom and pop use, its not there yet. But the latest releases are getting closer and closer. If owned my own business, it would be CentOS (free) servers and probably Redhat desktops (free, but support costs).

I think Windows is a fine operating system, and is the most widely supported. Its just not as glossy or reliable as a Mac (because they use BSD for the kernel). Macs just aren’t worth the money to me. I do like the iPhone and the iPad. But i wouldn’t fork out the $$$ out of my own pocket. The boss pays for those, you know, the digital leash.

[daniel1212]

I see your appraisal as honest, but yet the potential is still there, If Linux could do with an OS what Firefox has done with the browser (far far superior to IE8) then it would be more used.

[daniel1212]

“It’s been quite a few years since I’ve seen Linux not work with any piece of hardware.”

Good for you, but that is not my experience, and the Linux forums also attest otherwise, and that the percentage of Linux users with such problems is far higher than with Windows users, which make up about 90% of the market.

Presently, my RealTek sound card will not work on my Sony RA-840G PC, nor my Lexmark printer, despite installing all drivers and attempts to configure them.

This is not meant to bash Linux, but to balance what i see as too positive a promotion of it as desktop ready.

[Bigh4u2]

I never install Linux on the same hard drive as Windows.

I have a separate 40gig drive devoted strictly to Linux (Mint).

What I don’t like about Linux, is every time you want to access something on the drive or even do updates, you have to put in your password.

Too much of a pain for me. So I just run WinXP.

[shorty_harris]

I like linux because it's free, it's very easy to install, and I can install it on as many machines, as many times as I want. I don't have much recent MS Windows experience, probably that's to my advantage (don't know what I'm missing?).

Installing is easy and when you're done, it's a complete system, with most of the apps you'd need. The hardest part of installation would probably be partitioning the disk. If you do a clean install on a disk by itself, it's pretty easy.

I use my Ubuntu desktop mainly to rip my DVD and CD collection to disk, and it's been great for that. All the applications I use are free open-source. It'd cost me probably several hundred dollars using a windows machine.

[daniel1212]

What do you think about PCLINUXOS? It is the codec issue that i find troublesome. As for Windows, it actually can be made more user friendly than it is. For instance, I use AutoHotKey which enables me to write scripts to launch individual or multiple applications at once, or access Windows components. Window key and F1 launches my 2 main Bible programs, and Thunderbird, OpenOffice. and Firefox. I could put them in the Start up folder but this is better. Windows key and U launches the Uninstall programs (appwiz.cpl) while many more such can be done with the Run command (who knows about running dxdiag ?)

What Linux needs is a better Control Center.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I'm still skeptical about it being compatible with all things Windows

Are you expecting to pick up a windows program and run it under Linux?

That will be rare...

But on a functional basis ...there are the basic programs available for Linux...other than in the Games arena.

Open Office will supply 80% of the capability of MS Office for example.

If you are a '"Facebook fan there are two relatively new distributions available that are aiming to focus on such cloud applications....( Zorin and Peppermint )

[calex59]

I like Linux and currently use Mint, however, I run it in a dual boot with my windows OS because Netflix(which I use extensively since I got rid of my TV service)won’t run on my PC. While I can watch Netflix movies on my TV, I like to retire to my bedroom at night and watch movies on my computer. Therefore, until Netflix recognizes linux and makes their player compatible(fat chance since silver light is Microsoft)with it, I will continue to use XP for large parts of the day. Other than that I see no advantage of using Windows over Linux.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

So you are doing dual-boot?

Do you have two drives?

[Doohickey]

Linux users are usually smart enough not to click every hotlink or open every PDF/ZIP file they get in their inbox.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I can’t find out just where I can go with the Linux company for the answer to this problem

Did you try the Forums for that Distro?

[CIB-173RDABN]

So you are saying it is the users fault. Following your logic, the safest machine to have is one that you don’t use.

Yeah, that is the ticket, keep it in the box, don’t plug it in, and certainly do not access any site on the internet.

Your answer is silly. I ask a serious question and the clowns come out.

[fremont_steve]

The straight forward answer to both questions is yes.

It’s less of a target because there are fewer units out there (that the world knows about ... places like google’s search engines are entirely Linux based, i.e. likely a million instances right there.)

It also has design features that make it less of a target. It is derived from a model that was inherently more secure than where Windows came from historically. It doesn’t have a central registry. It’s email clients, and browsers don’t execute codes that can typically get root access. (It can be done -but we’re back to the top paragraph, fewer people bother.) Note - root access means GOD mode - you can mess up anything of choice as root.

So you don’t find virus protection utilities, etc. being necessary for Linux.

I’ve had a couple of systems “rooted” over the 17+ years I’ve been using Linux. This was on systems that were 24/7 and had typical uptimes measured in years. They were rooted because they were older distributions that over time got hacked, and people found my boxes. So the simplest way to stay protected is to upgrade your OS environment about once a year. Usually this is painless under Suse or Ubuntu. This tends to keep in front of the idiots that do aim for Linux based systems. Following this simple expedient I haven’t had troubles for 8-9 years.

[fremont_steve]

It isn’t compatible with all things Windows. That is sort of the point and the problem. ;-)

There are emulators that let it run a significant amount of Windows software (see Codeweavers for an idea of such stuff.) However, the idea is to use Linux native applications that substitute for what you find on Windows. Examples: Evolution, or Thunderbird as an email client, Firefox instead of IE, OpenOffice instead of Word/Excel/Powerpoint, etc.

I have two machines at home. One has Linux the other has XP. I boot the XP machine (a laptop) once every 2-3 weeks. The Linux box is net connected 24/7 behind a hardware firewall. Never has problems.

[untrained skeptic]

The old addage of Linux/Unix being more secure from the ground up isn't really true as it once was. Microsoft has worked diligently to improve security to the point where while each has it's strengths and weaknesses, neither is significantly more secure. Conversely, Linux distributions have been suffering from the same bloat that they used to mock Windows about, and the more crap you have on your computer, the more likely it is that you will have software with a vulnerability in it.

Obviously more malware writers tend to target the biggest pool of users. However, a lot of malware is delivered by fooling users into running software on their own systems and giving it permission to run.

While Linux is attracting more users that are less technically knowledgeable, the biggest pool of security oblivious users is by far still on Windows.

Even well designed security doesn't help if the malware writer can confuse the user into thinking that they are installing an important patch from a trusted source.

[fremont_steve]

Then you get the security you asked for!

You CAN set up Linux to boot without a password. But you wouldn’t be clever if you did so!

[daniel1212]

Never ran any Windows OS (3.1, 95, 98, 98se, XP, Vista) with a password, and never had any problems (except one virus i found and deleted myself) in 10 years of extensive Internet use, for which i thank God. I am the only user and want to use the PC for the Lord’s work, and avoid porno places, where i think much malware comes from.

I wish many Linux distros had less security, so that i could easily get full R+W privileges in NTFS Windows drives or even other Linux drives without trying different suggested scripts.

[Vinnie]

Anderson Silva..
MMA champion aaand Linux guru.

Who knew.

[ATLDiver]

Well because I like challenges and making something work that isn’t always supported. My point is that not everyone is going to have current, main-stream peripherals after all we’re not talking Apple owners here. Many people still have that old sound card or video card that likely won’t have a Linux driver for it. One of the problems that MS had with Vista is that along with the core OS code, they built in a LOT of old drivers. Linux doesn’t have near the driver support that say Win 7 does built-in and vendor drivers for *nix is hit or miss.

Your question as to why I installed it without running a compatibility test is moot. The average user most certainly won’t do that either, in my case I knew I had a challenge on my hands, the average user will expect it to just work. I’m glad you like the UI of Ubuntu but the average user does not and will not but again you and I are not the average user.

[ATLDiver]

Then you’re not really getting the full-power of the platform then. Yes I know the project has done a good job here of late with cleaning up the interface a power user still has to use command shell. Sometimes it’s faster to modify something in VI or setup/modify a cron job the old fashioned *nix way. ;)