Windoze "security" apps vs a more secure OS
Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by gewg_
(3936 messages posted)
(was: antivirus AVG free version ending support for Win98)
George Cowley wrote:
|Regarding suggestions about Linux,
|unless you have a broadband connection, that's a non-starter
|as dial-up is a nightmare for novice users.
|
Not entirely true--not by a long shot.
First, you can get a friend to download Linux and burn it to CD for you
or you can buy a Linux CD for MUCH less that a Windoze CD (typically $2 - $5)
or you can get Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Edubuntu to mail you a CD (free)
--and they even pay the postage.
There are also folks who schedule large downloads for the wee hours
using dial-up and a download manager (which can resume a broken download).
...and (WRT the subject of this thread) think of the bandwidth you save with Linux
not having to get/update band-aid "security" apps.
Second, the need for updates with a Unix-like OS is less critical than with Windoze
because an exploit's ability to "get root"
is mainly a factor of obviously foolish choices by the user.
This is very unlike Win9x where **everyone and everything** is a superuser.
Those traits are especially significant with the *default* installs of each of these.
It is also noteworthy just how little USEFUL software COMES with a Windoze install.
e.g. Win98 doesn't even come with a fundamental app for a net-connected OS
(a software firewall).
To get a spreadsheet, database manager, presentation app (PowerPoint),
and a real word processor for Windoze,
M$ wants you to buy their office suite[1] separately;
most Linux distributions COME with OpenOffice or similar apps on the CD.
...and, of course, the FIRST thing you should do with a Win9x install
is replace M$'s horrendously insecure online apps:
Internet Exploder and Outbreaks In Excess.
(So even what *does* come with that OS is crap.)
Here's a BIG point with Linux:
There are over 22,000 Free Software apps in the Debian software repositories.[2]
These are all no-infection, no-crapware, gratis-and-libre applications.
Here's **the** BIG point with Linux:
If you want to get ALL of those *without* a broadband connection,
there are folks who have made this available on optical media.
In fact, all of that will *still* cost you LESS than getting just a Windoze CD.
cache of http://distrowatch.com
|Linux is great if you know a ton about computers.
|
You are mired in 1999. Modern Linux distributions ("distros") are SMOKIN'.
(Ubuntu 9.04 was just released and folks who had poo-pooed Linux before
are just agog at how good it is in its out-of-the-box state.)
People who have only used Macs and use Windoze for the first time
take a while to get acclimated.
People who have only used Win9x and use XP for the first time
take a while to get acclimated.
People who have to be trained like a monkey
to follow a particular sequence of keystrokes/clicks to get a task done
will have trouble with *any* OS that is different from what they currently run.
Most people need a support guy with their computers.
Few people walk up to a computer for the first time and figure it out right off
and few Windoze users have ever done their own Windoze install.
...and most real techies these days install Linux for their moms
so no one has to deal with all the (Windoze-specific) infections.
The vast majority of users will find that a default Linux install
will do what they typically do with a computer: documents, surfing, email.
No real melodrama there.
...and you DON'T have to **install** Linux to try it;
you can run Linux FROM THE CD and see if it will work on your box
(the amount of RAM is typically what will limit things)
and you can see whether you like the look and feel of that distro.
Don't like *that* Linux distro? Try another. (There's a whole bunch.)
|I know a ton about computers
|
It sounds like you equate "Windoze" and "computers".
|and Linux just irritates me because it just doesn't do what I need it to do.
|
It sounds like you are a resident of the USA.
Don't blame Linux for the stupid laws your government has enacted.
If you want full out-of-the-box multimedia support,
you simply have to ignore those stupid laws and get Linux Mint.
There also Python scripts that will get/install the proprietary codecs/drivers/crap
that aren't permitted to be shipped with free Linux distros.
This is an old thread, but those tweaks have been known much longer than that.
There are also payware Linux distros which include the ransomware.
(I don't advise using those payware distros; the security config on them sucks.)
|The old argument about low overhead, in my experience is false too.
|
Yeah, right.
There are also people who try to install XP on their Win9x boxes--and FAIL.
Heavyweight Linux distros are made to compete with XP/Vista
and require similar resources for similar tasks. TANSTAAFL.
You aren't impressing me with your "computer expertise".
|I find Linux is a memory hog without fine tuning and I'm not prepared to fiddle.
|
Compared to the amount of useless stuff Vista loads into RAM by default
then has to dump / page out when something useful wants that RAM,
Linux is much smarter/sleeker.
...and if you have a lightweight system, get a lighter distro--dump the eye candy.
This is actually a great advantage of Linux.
Say you don't like the look and feel of a particular Window Manager? Try another.
Don't like a distro because it comes with a default WM you don't like? Try another.
Again, (unlike Windoze) you DON'T have to *install* a Linux distro to try it.
cache of http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Minimal_Linux_distros
cache of http://www.linux.com/feature/52134?theme=print
...and when you go to buy a peripheral for your Win9x box,
good luck finding something with a Win9x device driver.
OTOH, Linux has the BEST hardware support of *any* OS.
This is because of the dedication of the Linux Driver Project.
...and of course, you may not have to _buy_ it at all
(or at least not *new* stuff); Linux LOVES older hardware.
So, not only is Linux zero-cost, you can use old stuff you already have
or old stuff you can pick up dirt cheap.
[1] OpenOffice doesn't include an email app;
Mozilla Thunderbird (or an equivalent), however, comes with Linux.
OTOH, M$Office doesn't include a vector drawing app;
M$ wants you to buy Visio separately.
OpenOffice Draw uses an open, non-proprietary vector graphics file format.
[2] Debian Linux has a free-software-only policy.
If a software developer pulls any kind of proprietary nonsense with his software,
Debian will completely ignore that app.
When you hear "Free Software", think "FREEDOM"--not necessarily "freebie".
Those memes almost always overlap--but that is just a happy coincidence.
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 |  | | |  | Windoze "security" apps vs a more secure OS (gewg_: Sat, May 2, 2009, 3:44 pm) |
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