How virus immune is Linux?

[drdoom]

drdoom,

My post isn't about what OS to install, just a post to let you know how I handled screwy users who ruined installs...

My cousins kids did this over and over again, finally, with the last complete redo I separated myself from support and told them I will no longer help, next time they will have to go to a shop and pay...They completely ignored antiviri warnings because it was screwing with their illegal digital downloading (vids and music mostly), actually, they even admitted they disabled the antivirus because it was annoying them...this happened again and again, even with stern warnings...

Four complete OS reinstalls and extra loadups, each time I tried to fix without install, the unit had so many viri it was totally impossible, much like your experience...I know I don't have to tell you the hours involved (support for relatives in my world means FREE)...

They probably have brought the unit to its knees again by now, but I haven't heard from them (bliss)...

In my case, no girlfriend was involved, YMMYV...

Tough love...

Laterzzzz......

I would agree with you except when I'm there I need to use the computer. That's the biggest pain in the back side. I got them to try to get replacement Win 7 disks so hopefully I will get it up and running soon.

As for which Linux to use. I tried Mint, Dream Linux. Vector Linux and Vixta last night. I didn't like Dream Linux or Vector mostly because I couldn't find the package manager I think. Mint had 55,000+ packages available. Since to GUI can be customized I think I'll go with Mint. I have Ubuntu loaded already on two machines.

[Vindir]

What did you think of Vixta? I haven't played with that one before.

One last thing to throw your way is kiosk OS. It may be appropriate depending on what kind of activity the people at the house need access to. https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Kiosk

Either way, Mint should be a fun choice. Hope it goes well man.

[wh666-666]

Either way, Mint should be a fun choice. Hope it goes well man.

Hopefully so. I wouldn't recommend it on a laptop though! Had no issues on desktops before, but on laptops the menu will sometimes disappear and sometimes fail to unmount the HDD before the kill command.

What did you think of Vixta? I haven't played with that one before.

It really was a thing of beauty. My only complaint was, it was one of those OS's where it could have benefited from an upgrade, bit of a better native hardware support, the odd tweak, that kind of thing. Lovely to look at and move around in though and mimicked vista almost perfectly. That's why I was disappointed it became Xange and then they started stripping away all of its sleek looks:



Then when it became Xange:


Simplis is another good vista/win7-esq distro, when it works that is! I got the live disc a while back, only booted successfully on one or two computers, but when it did, it was quite pleasing. Maybe the menu isnt as polished as Vixta or the taskbar, but it had a bit more in the way of widgets to play with out of the box:


Another good vista/win7 substitution apparently, on a recommendation off some linux users, is peppermint, which Im going to try at some point as it uses LXDE but still manages to look good. So on the compaq a910 in my sig, most distros run very well, but LXDE might fly so fast, it might take off. I've run out of discs though, so I have the image sat here waiting to be burnt. Maybe it isnt as good looking as Simplis or Vixta and only better than Xange (IMHO) but if it is far faster, then I dont mind the odd detail left out, I'll have to see what its like:

[wh666-666]

Mint had 55,000+ packages available. Since to GUI can be customized I think I'll go with Mint. I have Ubuntu loaded already on two machines.

That is something I agree on very much. On Mint, it is one click on menu to get to the synaptic package manager and then just above it is a much nicer to navigate software manager. Mint really does have one of the better menu's in the distro scene IMHO.

[Vindir]

I've run out of discs though, so I have the image sat here waiting to be burnt.

Sounds like you could benefit from a fatty usb stick and a copy of YUMI

[drdoom]

Couple more quick questions. Since I have no idea when the Windows 7 disks will arrive I wanted to get the install started. Does it make any difference which order you install? I only have installed Linux on a machine that already has Windows on it. Also, would it be best to make 2 partitions?
If so how big should I make the Linux partition. The HD is 1 TB. There is no other HD's in the system.

[drdoom]

What did you think of Vixta? I haven't played with that one before.

One last thing to throw your way is kiosk OS. It may be appropriate depending on what kind of activity the people at the house need access to. https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Kiosk

Either way, Mint should be a fun choice. Hope it goes well man.

I got the Xange version so not so pretty. I'm going to install Mint and make it look like a MAC since everyone there seems to like that OS. I

[vertices]

It's easiest to install Windows first then Linux. However if you must do Linux first, check this thread: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=96348

[drdoom]

I would rather not go through the hassle if I can avoid it. A quick look at your link and it seems like a pain. Two partitions won't make it easier? Unfortunately. I'm stuck waiting for someone else to get the Windows disks so I have no idea how long it will take.

[Vindir]

]Unfortunately. I'm stuck waiting for someone else to get the Windows disks so I have no idea how long it will take.

imho, you should just go ahead and set the box up linux. It is easy enough to reinstall the mint install from scratch once you finally get the windows disks in if you didn't want to restore grub.

That would give you something working today and the promise of the alternative in the future.

[ImaNihilist]

Can someone explain to me why proportions and scale in Linux GUIs are always so bad? Every distro, Ubuntu included for the most part, looks like it has some kind of accessibility mode always on.

[Timman_24]

Can someone explain to me why proportions and scale in Linux GUIs are always so bad? Every distro, Ubuntu included for the most part, looks like it has some kind of accessibility mode always on.

I think it is the res people are running. I ran Ubuntu on a 1080p 24" screen and it looked fine.

I don't understand why the OP didn't just go with the User Account route in windows. Set up a very limited user account and don't give her the password for admin. Set her up with all the programs she needs and it should be fine.

[Steven P Jobs]

Between TeX, troff, LaTeX, postcript, scribus, etc. a good deal of modern typesetting was born in linux.

I suspect you're trying to point out the failures of typesetting in the modern windowing systems though and just haven't made it clear.

Typesetting in gnome/KDE/Unity would actually be a great topic for discussion, but the way you're posing the question makes you smell like a nasty troll looking to derail the thread. So... if you actually care then start a new thread and discuss, otherwise please refrain from making a mess in the pool.

yeah, that's what i meant

i'm fully aware that linux is capable of good typesetting, but i think most people would agree that no linux distro can currently match osx or windows or even any of the dominant smartphone OSs in terms of ui typesetting. i think that's a real problem, because bad type is instantly noticeable even to someone who has no clue about typography.

is it a license issue with no good solution existing that's compatible with the gpl? or is there a lack of talent in this regard among linux devs (after all good type isn't easy)? for example, doing subpixel antialiasing in a way that works with the wide range of displays that linux has to run on and the wide variety of fonts it supports seems like a nightmare to implement properly. or just that linux devs have other priorities?

Android 4.0 has pretty good typesetting and UI design, leaps and bounds beyond anything I've seen from desktop linux. As far as I can tell they achieved this by hiring someone whose job was to care about this stuff. And the results are quite good, even people like Gruber have admitted that ICS looks great (and once ICS is on more than 1% of android devices I'm sure consumers will agree).

sorry that my post seemed like troll bait (along with the username), but I think it's a valid question along with ImaNihilist's two posts up from this one. OSX figured this stuff out 10 years ago (arguably earlier), Windows 5 years ago (again arguably earlier), Linux as a whole is still working on it.

[drdoom]

imho, you should just go ahead and set the box up linux. It is easy enough to reinstall the mint install from scratch once you finally get the windows disks in if you didn't want to restore grub.

That would give you something working today and the promise of the alternative in the future.

I asked about the Windows 7 disks last night and it seems the request to get the replacement disks was handed off to my gf. In other words handed back to me. That's what I get for breaking the never go out with anyone with children rule.

[drdoom]

Quick update. After some google searches and tweaking I have one of my Ubuntu installs encoding my DVD's to my home network hard drives. With WinXP I was getting around 90 fps with Ubuntu it is running around 135 fps.
Is that all from going from 32bit to 64bit? I briefly tried to get Handbrake to run on Win 7 but after I installed Ubuntu I ditched that idea. So I don't know what the difference in fps would be going from 32bit windows to 64bit.