Yep, my computer started to slow down to a functionless level all of the sudden one day, asked a friend of mine, who’s a hacker and worked for the government as an IT guy in topsecret bases and whatnot, what he thinks is going on, he confirmed my suspicion, Micro$oft is sending “updates” to Vista users that will slow down there computers so that they are forced to buy Winblow$ 7 when it comes out, at least the idiots who think that the only two operating systems are Mac and Windows and think that Linux is some program hackers use to send people Viagra ads. Anyways, I downloaded Kubuntu and will burn it and install it, my friend told me that I’d be amazed at the system and would be wondering why other OS’s aren’t built the way Linux is, he also told me that there’s is a learning curve, but hey, I picked up Blender, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Mudbox, ZBrush, Modo, ect., pretty easy, I’m sure I could do the same with Linux. Plus I heard I can use all my windows apps on Linux, so I’m not missing out.
I got one question though, are there any viruses for Linux? Will I be able to get a virus, like say I misspelled a web address and it took me to a porn site that had a virus on it, would I get the virus? Or if I downloaded something thinking it was something else and it turns out to be a virus, would I get said virus?
So yeah, I’ve converting to the Church of the Chubby, Glossy, Penguin. No longer am I going to be a slave to Bill Gates and his demons, except XBOX.
In general Linux systems are safe from viruses (last I checked only five Linux-native viruses existed), so as long as you’re careful when you’re browsing you should be completely safe. A word of caution, though: if you use WINE, it will happily execute Windows viruses if told to, so keep that in mind. Overall, however, Linux systems are safe from these woes. This is one of the main reasons I’m in favor of keeping Linux an elite system: if everybody was using it, you can bet that the virus writers would take notice.
Anyway, I came in here fully expecting I was going to have to lock something, and I came up with a witty retort that’s too good to waste, so I’ll post it anyway. I was going to say, “Why don’t you convert to the church of not creating threads in violation of the rules?” Unfortunately, however, you were within the rules, thus spoiling a perfectly good joke. Killjoy.
Linux is much more secure than Windows, but there are still Linux viruses/worms/trojans/exploits etc. They just tend to get patched much more quickly, and can pretty much be prevented by common sense (though Windows ones can too). For the rare lapses in that (we all have it), most of them will require you to manually run them or the bad ones might be slipstreamed into some seemingly innocuous file you want to run. Generally, though, you’re fairly safe:
Well like my friend said, it has a learning curve, lucky for me though I was brought up on DOS, I remember when I first saw Windows 3.1 (or was it 1.3?) and it googlied my eyeballs.
I also had used C++ as a kid, well, closer to being a tween actually, never really did a whole lot with it, created a cool looking little app that had buttons that did nothing though lol.
I’ve jacked around with Linux before at my friends house, pretty simple looking to me.
You could’ve always stayed with XP, now we’ll end up with another ubuntu evangenlist on this forum who’ll be worshiping the great chubby black and white penguin god Tux.
Eh, don’t worry, I won’t be preachin’ the word of Tux anytime soon.
However, I will feel more like my heroes, The Lone Gunmen. You should see all the crazy stuff I have on Firefox, I have things on here I don’t even understand, like some sorta barcode thingy and stuff to hide my IP and Proxy and all kinds of goodies.
If you want to use the Unix world, go buy a Mac. Seriously. You probably like having all of the system-update work being done for you by someone else.
Secondly, if you do use Windows, you simply need to keep in mind two things:
Do not use the system, under ordinary circumstances, either as an “Administrator” or even as a “Power User.” You must assume that you will be constantly exposed to rogue software which will attempt to do things without your knowledge. The computer has no concept of “user awareness” nor of “user intent.”
Microsoft Backup is a great backup-system, readily available in most versions of Windows, and USB-connected disk drives are very cheap and spacious. Automatic backups can be launched every day, by a “backup operator” user designated for the purpose, storing the information in a secured folder on the external drive. Your data is now quite safe, no matter what any “rogue” running in your name might attempt to do.
If, in the past, you have always tweaked the preferences of/fiddled with all your software including the OS, eshewing the merits of default setups, you are going to enjoy GNU/Linux. If you like to pimp your OS (WindowBlinds, ObjectDock etc.), you are really going to enjoy GNU/Linux. Compiz is the bomb! If you have any non-main stream peripherals, checking compatibility before you install may be a good idea, although the linux geeks normally have a solution for almost any problem, however convoluted it may end up being.
even then… WINE is mostly run as a restricted user (not root) and in the worst of cases, the virus would just render WINE unusable, but will not do anything to the Linux distribution… you might just get a bunch of error messages if you run some viruses…
not to say you shouldn’t watch out, just saying it’s not as sever as you might think.
Well sure, but you don’t want to goof up WINE either. Of course, as long as you’re careful you can generally keep any system safe. Someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing can compromise even the most sophisticated systems. Some idiot with the root password can take down a Linux system just as quickly as a virus can take down a Windows system.
I’ve got windows 2000 or something - it was “free” when I bought my laptop and so far hasn’t caused any major problems that I ought to be crying about. I’m also quite used to the interface . . . and use it mainly for blender and other associated artwork.
How would you go about downloading a OS and then installing it on a computer and getting rid of vista? What do you need in order to do it? I’m thinking about switching to MAC, my vista is about to break down…
You know, I don’t believe there is a legal way to run “MAC” on non-apple hardware. There is a less than legal way but you need to be really, really careful about what hardware you throw at it from what I was reading.
How does one tell when their OS is about to break down anyway?
Will I be able to get a virus, like say I misspelled a web address and it took me to a porn site that had a virus on it, would I get the virus?
Exactly what sites do you visit that are only a misspell from porn? www.corn.com?
On a more serious note, Linux is cool, it will make your computer run more efficiently and prolong its usable life. Pray the fat penguin you have a nvidia card, ati might cause problems with OpenGL. Linux has very few viruses, but makes up for it with other issues (though this one is due to ATI’s bad OpenGL support).
You think I can upgrade from vista to mac with this?
System Information
Time of this report: 1/7/2002, 03:45:52
Machine name: HERMOOR-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_ldr.090302-1506)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: FUJITSU SIEMENS
System Model: G31T-M2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core™2 Duo CPU E4500 @ 2.20GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 1344MB used, 2985MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode
