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Any Ubuntu users out there? (Question)

heyholetsgogrant

By heyholetsgogrant
in The Tailgate

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Enter Apotheosis

Enter Apotheosis

Posted
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I just went back to Ubuntu, because I am tired of windows security problems. I keep getting spyware and rogue crapware all over my comp, even with Mcafee.

- McAfee is just downright terrible.

- AVG or Avast are both free and better overall programs.

- Generally speaking, its your own damn fault for getting spyware and adware on your PC.

Ubuntu is smooth as hell and is a gazillion times more stable then windows. My question is do you need virus/spywear protection for unbuntu?

-Grant

Nope... you ought to be fine without it. Granted, it never hurts to have anti-virus software handy and you can probably find something in the package repository or just by asking around within the community.

it has pretty much all drivers preloaded, no work should really be necessary.

Thats not entirely true. Drivers can be an issue but if your hardware has been around for a little while and is reasonably popular you should be okay. Driver support is currently the achilles heel of Ubuntu and most other Linux distributions.

I have an old windows 98 laptop I want to throw this on and give it a try. Does it recognize most wireless network cards and ethernet cards? Or are there at least drivers readily available?

Bob, you can boot up the OS directly from a CD without installing or formatting anything (its just preloaded into memory). Thats a pretty good way to determine both that you like the operating system and that it functions correctly on your machine.

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Larry

Larry

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Simplest way to fins out is to use a Live CD. Most Linux's have them, and I think Ubuntu does.

The Live CD is a bootable CD. Put it in the drive, boot the computer, and it boots Linux. Once it's up, you can see if your hardware works, without installing a single thing on your hard drive.

Now, the Live CD won't perform near as well as a hard drive installation. For one thing, the Live CDs I've used have to dedicate a chunk of your RAM and turn it into an imitation hard drive, which means that it's treating your system as if it has less RAM than it actually does. And obviously it will give your system a default configuration.

But you can test-drive it. And it will tell you if your hardware works.

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HOF44

HOF44

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Bob, you can boot up the OS directly from a CD without installing or formatting anything (its just preloaded into memory). Thats a pretty good way to determine both that you like the operating system and that it functions correctly on your machine.

But you can test-drive it. And it will tell you if your hardware works.

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try this weekend of the bootable cd and see if I can get the hardware working with it. I tried this a couple years ago and didn't have much luck with the drivers for wireless, I had a linksys card that was not supported at the time. Hope it wiorks better this time, I really liked the look and function of the OS.

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DCSaints_fan

DCSaints_fan

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Yes, Ubuntu is very nice. Still running 7.04, but I should really upgrade to 7.10. (Cool thing about Ubuntu releases is you know exactly how old they are; 7.04 - released in April 2007 7.10 released in October 2007)

I have not found the need for spyware/adware. No one would want to write a virus for Linux as it is run by < 5% of all users (kind of like a Mac).

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SkinnedAussie

SkinnedAussie

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I still run 6.06, but will upgrade to 8.04LTS when it becomes available. ATM, I don't run any anti-virus / spyware / malware programs, but if you feel the need, there are several options available to download by way of the Synaptic Package Manager.

I've just installed 7.10 on a couple of pc's, and everything seemed to work out of the box - printer, modem, wireless, etc, - and have yet to receive any phone calls asking why something no longer works.

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GrapeApe

GrapeApe

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ClamAV is a free virus scanner for linux. Debian has it so Ubuntu should too. But the only time I've ever run a virus scanner on linux was a mail server that served some windows accounts. Or to scan a file I recieved via email before forwarding it to someone else.

Sophos makes a commercially available scanner for linux.

Used both at one time or another. Both work adequately. They are pretty easy to hook into exim for email scanning if you have a mail server. I don't know about hooking into a mail reader (evolution, icedove, thunderbird).

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HOF44

HOF44

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Ok, posting from Ubuntu now. I had to work today, so I downloaded it and booted it up off the CD at work. I must say they have improved this thing tremendously since the last time I tried it. Gonna give it a shot on the old laptop tonight.

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DCSaints_fan

DCSaints_fan

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"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me"

:laugh: :laugh: :silly:

Or I think it means "I've got better things to do with my time than figuring out why package x needs tarball y, constantly reinstalling every package for security updates, I just want to use my @%#$#! computer."

Reason why I abanded gentoo. Didn't update for a month of two, I come back and updaters is broken for some reason. I gave up after a few hours of trying to figure out what broke.

Yeah, you learn alot about your computer running slack. But some people just want to be productive.

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heyholetsgogrant

heyholetsgogrant

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ClamAV is a free virus scanner for linux. Debian has it so Ubuntu should too. But the only time I've ever run a virus scanner on linux was a mail server that served some windows accounts. Or to scan a file I recieved via email before forwarding it to someone else.

Sophos makes a commercially available scanner for linux.

Used both at one time or another. Both work adequately. They are pretty easy to hook into exim for email scanning if you have a mail server. I don't know about hooking into a mail reader (evolution, icedove, thunderbird).

Ok Everyone I found a Free firewall for ubuntu, its uses the built in firewall. Go to Applications>add/remove>search for Firestarter. Install Firestarter. This well give you a firewall that monitors your incomming and outgoing traffic. Just on a side note Ubuntu can be a pain some times, however its a millions times more stable then windows. Dell now has some desktops and laptops that come with Ubuntu instead of Vista or XP.

-Grant

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rebornempowered

rebornempowered

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anyone using Compiz on their ubuntu machine?

I've tried setting it up but it didn't take and I don't have the time to really work on it.

I've heard that the next version coming out in a few months is going to simplify the Compiz interface.

If they could get that going well and improve the basic look of it a little it would get a lot of users migrating to it.

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Metalhead

Metalhead

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Does anyone use or familiar with Arch?

I've used ubuntu for a while when my pc crashed last year, and I'm extremely close to going linux all out. The only thing holding me back is a few pc games, mainly Dawn of War and a couple other RTS's.

I don't want to hijack or get off the original question too much, but I'd rather not start another similar thread. So my question is what would be the most suitable linux for mostly internet and casual gaming? Is wine it for pc games or are there better options?

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