The goal of going digital is to save money. Most systems in a nuclear power plant are monitors with four sensors. If two of them have out-of-whack readings, engineers often have to "trip" the plant, or shut it down, until the problem is resolved.... Unlike a human engineer, who can only take in one measurement at a time from one instrument, the digital system takes in thousands of readings at any moment. The computer can instantly figure out if a sensor is broken and ignore it.
So, I guess the system there is that every sensor is connected to a gauge and/or an alarm relay. There are four sensors for each parameter that is monitored, so if one of them goes bad you can know that it's the sensor (since the other three provide normal values). Because a nuclear power plant uses a lot of sensors, they go bad all the time and if two sensors for the same parameter go bad, the plant has to be shut down (since it could also mean that the parameter is abnormal and the other two sensors are bad). This costs money. The new digital system is supposed to analyze the readings and determine if the sensor is bad based on the readings from other sensors (that monitor different parameters), thus reducing the frequency of false alarms.
and if it's not connected to a network it becomes a very labour intensive task to push out updates to the systems to prevent against the viruses.
But don't most viruses and worms come from the internet and from removable storage devices?
If you took a computer and: 1.installed an OS that allows file permissions, 2.made the system drive read only for regular users (except the files that they have to change, for example, the profile directory and whatever files the software they use changes), 3.disconnected floppy and DVD drives, 4.disabled all unused ports, 5.made the users sign an agreement not to connect any storage devices without obtaining permission,
I think that the computer would be pretty safe. If more than one such computer was connected to an internal network, the network would be pretty safe too, viruses do not appear out of nowhere, they have to somehow get into at least one PC before being able to spread over the network.
Yea, because you never left the headlights or the radio on or you always have a backup battery. Or had some fault in the electrical system that drained the battery over a few days - if you drive every day it's OK (so you do not notice that something is wrong), but if you leave the car for a few days (say, long weekend at home) the battery goes flat.
I do remember my grandfather crank starting his VAZ-2103 at least once.
I wouldn't know about the electricity requirements of modern car engines, my car has a carburetor (and no computers), the alternator is 55A and is enough for the engine, charging the battery, headlights (2x55/60W + 2x ~50W fog lights) and the tape deck.
The car also does not have a voltmeter or ammeter that could show if there was a problem with the charging circuit. Yes, there is a "not charging" light on the dashboard, but it is possible to have enough current for the light to go out, but not enough current to actually charge the battery. It happened once on another car.
The battery can be weak enough to not be able to turn the starter motor, but strong enough for the spark coil and the alternator. Basically - if the car can be push started, it could have been crank started, but push starting requires more than one person.
Why? If I can start the car by pushing or connecting another battery temporarily, then it can run without the battery, since the alternator provides electricity once the engine is running.
Now, my car would not start without the battery, since it needs battery power for the security switch, however, there can be a situation that the battery is discharged (or bad) enough to not be able to turn the starter motor, but have enough voltage for the low power switch, in which case pushing would start the car, as would the crank.
I mean, reading that list made me think of some old geezers complaining about how cars in their time had a big ol' crank in front, unlike these wussy cars that kids use these days.
The crank was useful if the battery died. At least, if you have passengers, you can ask them to push start the car, well, if you have a car with manual transmission. If the car has an automatic transmission or you are alone, then you need to jump start the car which means either asking someone for help or always having a spare battery.
I'd rather just crank start the car if I manage to end up with a dead battery. Now that I think about it, why the option of cranking the car in case of battery or starter failure is no longer available, even on my old (1982) car?
I have two Sony Walkmans (Walkmen?) and they are very good and solidly built (quite a lot of metal parts, compared to today's mostly plastic devices). Whatever they make now will most likely break beyond repair before the cassette players do. Yes, the players needed a belt change, but that was relatively easy to do and the new belts should last a long time. I still listen to cassette, since I have a lot of tapes so it makes sense to record new stuff to tape instead of copying all tapes to a digital format, buy portable and car digital players, in a sense I am "locked in". Also, it is more convenient to record to a cassette compared to PC, and digital recorders are quite expensive.
If you are willing to install the OS, why can't you install "apache, ruby, perl, and so on" on Windows?
Also, VMs are quite good now. In fact they are good (that is, fast and not buggy) enough for servers (that usually need to be more reliable than a desktop PC) and are a real alternative to running multiple physical servers and not just because you save space and power by consolidation.
How would you make a web page that convinces the user that they should click 'okay' on your installer instead of going to the system app center / repositories?
There are a lot of people who are used to Windows, so if they switch, especially after hearing that Linux has no viruses/malware they might feel safe clicking on anything. Also, in my experience not all programs and drivers are in the default repositories, for example, drivers for Canon multifunction devices (the scanner part) are available as a.deb file from canon web site, but not on any Debian Linux repository. Which means that I (or someone else) actually have to sometimes download and run a file to install a program. Opera web browser is also not available in the default Debian repositories, but has its own repository and I have to add it to the list to be able to use Opera. So, I (or someone else) have to do that sometimes too. Sometimes I also may download and run a shell script to do something that I want. I can read and semi-understand a simpler shell script though, I doubt that everyone can.
Any of these could be a way for malware. If a user wants the screensaver with kittens, he will try to install it. Also, "Your computer has problems, download this simple script to fix them". The script then downloads and runs whatever the malware makers want.
How would you convince someone to give you the admin ID when they didn't launch an installer or app that needs admin access?
"Want this screensaver with the cute kittens? You can download it for free (admin access required to install)"
If you impose behavior limits, like "don't click on ads, don't install random programs, do not run as root, stay updated" then Windows become quite safe too. Sure, there are remote vulnerabilities, but I really doubt that, say, Firefox or Flash on Linux is completely safe (if so, why the Windows versions have bugs?). Running as limited user will limit the malware to just screwing up the user's files which, on a single-user system is almost as bad as screwing up the whole system (if malware deleted all my files, I might as well format and reinstall).
Limiting the user to default repositories would only work if the repositories contained every single non-malware app that is available, otherwise there will be a reason for the user to use alternative means of getting the software and may end up getting malware.
Unless you keep all computers on all the time, power consumption is not an issue. For example, the 286 that I have does not use a lot of power (and has no fans or even heatsinks) and I do not keep it turned on unless I want to play an old game or just do something with the computer. Same thing about my tape decks - they do not consume any power when they are turned off and if I only listen to one tape deck at a time, it does not matter how many I have.
On top of that, 5.25" floppy drives are becoming incredibly hard to find
Could be, I have two working 1.2MB drives and one 360KB drive. The 1.2MB drives needed some oil for the head actuator screw and now they are as good as new. I also have a retail copy of MS-DOS 5 on 360KB floppies - still readable.
Plenty of hardware is still made for both of those formats.
The manufacturer of the last reel-to-reel tape deck, Otari, stopped the production last year, so there are no new R2R tape decks. A good thing is that a lot of the better tape decks were built like tanks (compared to current consumer electronics) and hopefully will work for years to come.
If you want t compare 3.5" and 5.25" floppy discs to a music format, they are more like 8-tracks or mini-discs.
Both of which I would have if I had more money. 8-track was not popular (or probably was not even available) in my country, but some people abroad still use the format and have devices to play and record it. It would be too expensive for me to buy it just for collection, since I can just as well use reel-to-reel tapes for home and cassettes for home, car and my walkman. Mini-disc is different - the discs are magneto-optical so they would hold their data for a very long time, just like regular MO discs (I do have an MO drive and some discs), but Hi-MD players are very expensive, though one is on my list of stuff I'd like to buy.
In other words, I am a hardware guy, I like old tech and keeping/using old devices. It's also really fun when I bring a broken device back to life.
Depending on what you mean by saying "worthwhile". You probably won't make any money from it (though there are still companies that use really old computers. On the other hand, when I fixed (soldered in new oscillators, the old ones were taken out by someone before the board was given to me) a motherboard with a 286 and 1MB RAM (separate chips), it is quite fun to try to make it work and do stuff with it. For example, did you know that a 286 does not support paging so when it runs out of RAM you have to close a program, compared to modern PCs that just become slower as they keep more and more stuff on the page file? Trying to get network to work on DOS was quite fun for me too, though I still cannot access the network from Windows 3.10 (latest version that works on a 286) and probably never will, since network drivers also need RAM. I actually could access files shared on Windows PCs from DOS (but it was unreliable and the drivers took so much memory that NC could not run). I do not have an ISA sound card (but I do have a box of old computer pars, maybe there is a sound card in there, for now I cannot get to it).
I do not know about you but that stuff was fun to me and certainly worth those ~$10 I spent on the new oscillators and a transistor (the speaker driver transistor was missing too).
Why would I want to have one less physical system. Also, those floppies will probably outlive that hard drive there the images are stored.
I keep music on records and tapes (and also have a few physical devices to play them) since they are more reliable for long term storage without putting in additional effort (copying to a new medium all the time).
It doesn't, unless: 1) You have to pay more if you use more space in the same room or 2) You rent the free space and get money for it
Free space in a room is similar to free space on a hard drive (or RAM) - not very useful by itself, only useful in a sense that you can put stuff in there.
I have a lot of old stuff - reel-to-reel tape decks, cassette decks, vacuum tube radios and yes, a few really old computers (oldest is a 286 12MHz 1MB). I still use some of them, others are backup or just for collection, since I like old technology (for one, I can better understand how it works, compared to current technology). Oh, and my car was made in 1982. With no computers, it's easier to understand (and fix) the electrical problems. When I can, I tent to use an older device for the task, since it hopefully was made better and will work longer (and be easier to fix) than a new device.
Well, if the user wants the screensaver or smileys he will download and run it and even enter the root password if asked. Yes, if the OS (and the browser, a lot of people are bhind NAT these days, so the vulnerabilities of the OS itself are less important) has less remote-exploitable vulnerabilities there is less chance that the computer will get hacked, but PEBKAC is still a vulnerability for any OS tat allows running a downloaded executable file.
On the other hand, I really would not like if Microsoft (or whoever is responsible for Linux repositories) had complete control over what programs I can run. For one, I might want to write my own program (I sometimes do that), also, Microsoft could deny installation for OpenOffice and other programs that compete with its own. Whoever is responsible for Linux repositories could forbid me to install a program (or a driver) that does not agree with their ideology (it's not open source and/or is patented in some other country - my country does not recognize software patents).
Just like some AV software that detects all keygens as malware. Keygens might not agree with your philosophy but a lot of them only do what they are supposed to - generate the serial number. Some of them are trojans of course, but if the AV software flags all keygens as trojans (some at least just say that it's a keygen) then the user will be less likely to believe it when a keygen actually has a trojan in it and the AV software tries to warn about it.
Yea, upload some keygen to virustotal.com and see how various AV programs detect it as "generic trojan" or something like that (or even "keygen"). The better ones show it as clean.
Sometimes the keygen really is a trojan, but not always. Yet, for some reason, a lot of AV software mark all keygens as viruses/trojans.
I usually have very little free space on the hard drives. When I run out of space, I archive some files to tape, however, I do not delete the files immediately, because I use them as cache. When I actually need to place some other file there, I delete some files that were archived to tape.
Yes, defragging would be really slow on drives with little free space, but if I really want to defrag, I can temporarily move some files to tape, defrag the drive (and consolidate free space) then move the files back.
SSDs are for speed. I guess defrag is too. I usually keep the drives for storage space and do not really need the speed. The page file is constant size and is in one piece, most system files do not change too.
So, on Linux, if my hard drive is almost full, then I delete some files and write a new file that takes up nearly all available space, it will magically be written in one piece? That probably is quite slow.
The ISP I'm using not only does not have caps, but will increase the speed (from 200mbps up/down to Lithuania and 80mbps up/down to elsewhere to 300mbps up/down to anywhere) and at least I will pay less for the higher speed (there were four plans, after the change the most expensive plan (the one I have) will no longer be offered, but the cheaper plan will be 300mbps).
Currently I upload about 10TB/month. The ISP not only does not complain, but, when I complained about my connection being slow (for a time it only reached something like 10-20mbps), they fixed it (apparently there was a configuration error in their network).
I now pay 29.1EUR/month for 200/200/80/80, I will pay 23.31EUR/month for the 300mbps connection.
My electricity meter is the old electromechanical one and is outside. The speed at which the disk is spinning indicates the power consumed, but if you want to know when I use more power you would have to stand next to the meter and count the revolutions. Or come to it a few times a day to take the readings.
Of course the power company knows how much energy I use in a month, because I have to pay for it.
The "smart meters" collect the data 750 to 3000 times a month, so up to about 100 times a day. This is way more data points that you could reasonably gather by sending people to take the readings.
Ok, fair point. But who seriously bothers running anonymous FTP servers these days rather than simply making the files available through a web server?
FTP was an example. I am sure that there are more services that one would want to run on the same hostname but on different machines.
Much the same as people blocking ICMP echo requests and traceroutes because they think it increases their security - in actual fact it does very little for the network security...
Well, it (with stealthed ports) makes port scan slower since you do not kjnow how long you should wait for the answer. If ICMP echo requests are not blocked, then you ping the host and then know how long you should wait. Now, if all ports are closed then there is no difference, but if some ports are open (because you run some service not for everyone) it will take longer to find them. Nonstandard ports help too since some services do not identify themselves so you will take longer to find out what service this is.
If the user really barely knows how to turn the computer on, Linux and Windows are probably the same in terms of difficulty to use - all the installed software works about the same and you need to ask someone else to install new hardware/software.
OTOH, if the user knows a bit more and, say, is capable of installing new hardware (and drivers and software) on Windows e could have problems with Linux. While apt-get and similar tools are very useful for installing software, if the app is not in the repository there could be problems. If the app in question is quite new and needs newer versions of some system libraries there could be big problems.
An example with hardware - in the office we bought a Canon multifunction device. Why Canon? Because they have drivers for Linux. So, the device will work on Linux? Yes, but the installation still was a bit difficult. The printer was recognizes and everything was fine with it. Scanner, on the other and, needed drivers from Canon site. I downloaded and installed them. The scanner works, but if I launch the scanning application as a regular user (not root), it does not find the scanner. After some googling I found that i needed to set permissions for the port or something (it happened a while ago). Wile I could do that, I don't think that a normal user (one who could install drivers on Windows using device manager or setup.exe) would be able to.
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So, how will Germany generate the power that the nuclear power plants provide now?
From TFA:
The goal of going digital is to save money. Most systems in a nuclear power plant are monitors with four sensors. If two of them have out-of-whack readings, engineers often have to "trip" the plant, or shut it down, until the problem is resolved. ...
Unlike a human engineer, who can only take in one measurement at a time from one instrument, the digital system takes in thousands of readings at any moment. The computer can instantly figure out if a sensor is broken and ignore it.
So, I guess the system there is that every sensor is connected to a gauge and/or an alarm relay. There are four sensors for each parameter that is monitored, so if one of them goes bad you can know that it's the sensor (since the other three provide normal values). Because a nuclear power plant uses a lot of sensors, they go bad all the time and if two sensors for the same parameter go bad, the plant has to be shut down (since it could also mean that the parameter is abnormal and the other two sensors are bad). This costs money. The new digital system is supposed to analyze the readings and determine if the sensor is bad based on the readings from other sensors (that monitor different parameters), thus reducing the frequency of false alarms.
and if it's not connected to a network it becomes a very labour intensive task to push out updates to the systems to prevent against the viruses.
But don't most viruses and worms come from the internet and from removable storage devices?
If you took a computer and:
1.installed an OS that allows file permissions,
2.made the system drive read only for regular users (except the files that they have to change, for example, the profile directory and whatever files the software they use changes),
3.disconnected floppy and DVD drives,
4.disabled all unused ports,
5.made the users sign an agreement not to connect any storage devices without obtaining permission,
I think that the computer would be pretty safe. If more than one such computer was connected to an internal network, the network would be pretty safe too, viruses do not appear out of nowhere, they have to somehow get into at least one PC before being able to spread over the network.
Yea, because you never left the headlights or the radio on or you always have a backup battery. Or had some fault in the electrical system that drained the battery over a few days - if you drive every day it's OK (so you do not notice that something is wrong), but if you leave the car for a few days (say, long weekend at home) the battery goes flat.
I do remember my grandfather crank starting his VAZ-2103 at least once.
I wouldn't know about the electricity requirements of modern car engines, my car has a carburetor (and no computers), the alternator is 55A and is enough for the engine, charging the battery, headlights (2x55/60W + 2x ~50W fog lights) and the tape deck.
The car also does not have a voltmeter or ammeter that could show if there was a problem with the charging circuit. Yes, there is a "not charging" light on the dashboard, but it is possible to have enough current for the light to go out, but not enough current to actually charge the battery. It happened once on another car.
The battery can be weak enough to not be able to turn the starter motor, but strong enough for the spark coil and the alternator. Basically - if the car can be push started, it could have been crank started, but push starting requires more than one person.
Why? If I can start the car by pushing or connecting another battery temporarily, then it can run without the battery, since the alternator provides electricity once the engine is running.
Now, my car would not start without the battery, since it needs battery power for the security switch, however, there can be a situation that the battery is discharged (or bad) enough to not be able to turn the starter motor, but have enough voltage for the low power switch, in which case pushing would start the car, as would the crank.
I mean, reading that list made me think of some old geezers complaining about how cars in their time had a big ol' crank in front, unlike these wussy cars that kids use these days.
The crank was useful if the battery died. At least, if you have passengers, you can ask them to push start the car, well, if you have a car with manual transmission. If the car has an automatic transmission or you are alone, then you need to jump start the car which means either asking someone for help or always having a spare battery.
I'd rather just crank start the car if I manage to end up with a dead battery. Now that I think about it, why the option of cranking the car in case of battery or starter failure is no longer available, even on my old (1982) car?
It will be more interesting to record this info from a car that does not have a computer, not to mention CAN or OBD bus.
I have two Sony Walkmans (Walkmen?) and they are very good and solidly built (quite a lot of metal parts, compared to today's mostly plastic devices). Whatever they make now will most likely break beyond repair before the cassette players do. Yes, the players needed a belt change, but that was relatively easy to do and the new belts should last a long time. I still listen to cassette, since I have a lot of tapes so it makes sense to record new stuff to tape instead of copying all tapes to a digital format, buy portable and car digital players, in a sense I am "locked in". Also, it is more convenient to record to a cassette compared to PC, and digital recorders are quite expensive.
If you are willing to install the OS, why can't you install "apache, ruby, perl, and so on" on Windows?
Also, VMs are quite good now. In fact they are good (that is, fast and not buggy) enough for servers (that usually need to be more reliable than a desktop PC) and are a real alternative to running multiple physical servers and not just because you save space and power by consolidation.
How would you make a web page that convinces the user that they should click 'okay' on your installer instead of going to the system app center / repositories?
There are a lot of people who are used to Windows, so if they switch, especially after hearing that Linux has no viruses/malware they might feel safe clicking on anything. .deb file from canon web site, but not on any Debian Linux repository. Which means that I (or someone else) actually have to sometimes download and run a file to install a program. Opera web browser is also not available in the default Debian repositories, but has its own repository and I have to add it to the list to be able to use Opera. So, I (or someone else) have to do that sometimes too. Sometimes I also may download and run a shell script to do something that I want. I can read and semi-understand a simpler shell script though, I doubt that everyone can.
Also, in my experience not all programs and drivers are in the default repositories, for example, drivers for Canon multifunction devices (the scanner part) are available as a
Any of these could be a way for malware. If a user wants the screensaver with kittens, he will try to install it. Also, "Your computer has problems, download this simple script to fix them". The script then downloads and runs whatever the malware makers want.
How would you convince someone to give you the admin ID when they didn't launch an installer or app that needs admin access?
"Want this screensaver with the cute kittens? You can download it for free (admin access required to install)"
If you impose behavior limits, like "don't click on ads, don't install random programs, do not run as root, stay updated" then Windows become quite safe too. Sure, there are remote vulnerabilities, but I really doubt that, say, Firefox or Flash on Linux is completely safe (if so, why the Windows versions have bugs?). Running as limited user will limit the malware to just screwing up the user's files which, on a single-user system is almost as bad as screwing up the whole system (if malware deleted all my files, I might as well format and reinstall).
Limiting the user to default repositories would only work if the repositories contained every single non-malware app that is available, otherwise there will be a reason for the user to use alternative means of getting the software and may end up getting malware.
less power consumption
Unless you keep all computers on all the time, power consumption is not an issue. For example, the 286 that I have does not use a lot of power (and has no fans or even heatsinks) and I do not keep it turned on unless I want to play an old game or just do something with the computer. Same thing about my tape decks - they do not consume any power when they are turned off and if I only listen to one tape deck at a time, it does not matter how many I have.
On top of that, 5.25" floppy drives are becoming incredibly hard to find
Could be, I have two working 1.2MB drives and one 360KB drive. The 1.2MB drives needed some oil for the head actuator screw and now they are as good as new. I also have a retail copy of MS-DOS 5 on 360KB floppies - still readable.
Plenty of hardware is still made for both of those formats.
The manufacturer of the last reel-to-reel tape deck, Otari, stopped the production last year, so there are no new R2R tape decks. A good thing is that a lot of the better tape decks were built like tanks (compared to current consumer electronics) and hopefully will work for years to come.
If you want t compare 3.5" and 5.25" floppy discs to a music format, they are more like 8-tracks or mini-discs.
Both of which I would have if I had more money. 8-track was not popular (or probably was not even available) in my country, but some people abroad still use the format and have devices to play and record it. It would be too expensive for me to buy it just for collection, since I can just as well use reel-to-reel tapes for home and cassettes for home, car and my walkman. Mini-disc is different - the discs are magneto-optical so they would hold their data for a very long time, just like regular MO discs (I do have an MO drive and some discs), but Hi-MD players are very expensive, though one is on my list of stuff I'd like to buy.
In other words, I am a hardware guy, I like old tech and keeping/using old devices. It's also really fun when I bring a broken device back to life.
Depending on what you mean by saying "worthwhile". You probably won't make any money from it (though there are still companies that use really old computers. On the other hand, when I fixed (soldered in new oscillators, the old ones were taken out by someone before the board was given to me) a motherboard with a 286 and 1MB RAM (separate chips), it is quite fun to try to make it work and do stuff with it. For example, did you know that a 286 does not support paging so when it runs out of RAM you have to close a program, compared to modern PCs that just become slower as they keep more and more stuff on the page file? Trying to get network to work on DOS was quite fun for me too, though I still cannot access the network from Windows 3.10 (latest version that works on a 286) and probably never will, since network drivers also need RAM. I actually could access files shared on Windows PCs from DOS (but it was unreliable and the drivers took so much memory that NC could not run). I do not have an ISA sound card (but I do have a box of old computer pars, maybe there is a sound card in there, for now I cannot get to it).
I do not know about you but that stuff was fun to me and certainly worth those ~$10 I spent on the new oscillators and a transistor (the speaker driver transistor was missing too).
Why would I want to have one less physical system. Also, those floppies will probably outlive that hard drive there the images are stored.
I keep music on records and tapes (and also have a few physical devices to play them) since they are more reliable for long term storage without putting in additional effort (copying to a new medium all the time).
Keeping junk isn't free, it costs money.
It doesn't, unless:
1) You have to pay more if you use more space in the same room
or
2) You rent the free space and get money for it
Free space in a room is similar to free space on a hard drive (or RAM) - not very useful by itself, only useful in a sense that you can put stuff in there.
I have a lot of old stuff - reel-to-reel tape decks, cassette decks, vacuum tube radios and yes, a few really old computers (oldest is a 286 12MHz 1MB). I still use some of them, others are backup or just for collection, since I like old technology (for one, I can better understand how it works, compared to current technology). Oh, and my car was made in 1982. With no computers, it's easier to understand (and fix) the electrical problems.
When I can, I tent to use an older device for the task, since it hopefully was made better and will work longer (and be easier to fix) than a new device.
There are a few programs that can send Windows Events to a Syslog server.
Well, if the user wants the screensaver or smileys he will download and run it and even enter the root password if asked. Yes, if the OS (and the browser, a lot of people are bhind NAT these days, so the vulnerabilities of the OS itself are less important) has less remote-exploitable vulnerabilities there is less chance that the computer will get hacked, but PEBKAC is still a vulnerability for any OS tat allows running a downloaded executable file.
On the other hand, I really would not like if Microsoft (or whoever is responsible for Linux repositories) had complete control over what programs I can run. For one, I might want to write my own program (I sometimes do that), also, Microsoft could deny installation for OpenOffice and other programs that compete with its own. Whoever is responsible for Linux repositories could forbid me to install a program (or a driver) that does not agree with their ideology (it's not open source and/or is patented in some other country - my country does not recognize software patents).
Just like some AV software that detects all keygens as malware. Keygens might not agree with your philosophy but a lot of them only do what they are supposed to - generate the serial number. Some of them are trojans of course, but if the AV software flags all keygens as trojans (some at least just say that it's a keygen) then the user will be less likely to believe it when a keygen actually has a trojan in it and the AV software tries to warn about it.
Yea, upload some keygen to virustotal.com and see how various AV programs detect it as "generic trojan" or something like that (or even "keygen"). The better ones show it as clean.
Sometimes the keygen really is a trojan, but not always. Yet, for some reason, a lot of AV software mark all keygens as viruses/trojans.
And who will decide which app to include? Microsoft? What if they decide that any free alternative to MS products should not be there?
I usually have very little free space on the hard drives. When I run out of space, I archive some files to tape, however, I do not delete the files immediately, because I use them as cache. When I actually need to place some other file there, I delete some files that were archived to tape.
Yes, defragging would be really slow on drives with little free space, but if I really want to defrag, I can temporarily move some files to tape, defrag the drive (and consolidate free space) then move the files back.
SSDs are for speed. I guess defrag is too. I usually keep the drives for storage space and do not really need the speed. The page file is constant size and is in one piece, most system files do not change too.
So, on Linux, if my hard drive is almost full, then I delete some files and write a new file that takes up nearly all available space, it will magically be written in one piece? That probably is quite slow.
The ISP I'm using not only does not have caps, but will increase the speed (from 200mbps up/down to Lithuania and 80mbps up/down to elsewhere to 300mbps up/down to anywhere) and at least I will pay less for the higher speed (there were four plans, after the change the most expensive plan (the one I have) will no longer be offered, but the cheaper plan will be 300mbps).
Currently I upload about 10TB/month. The ISP not only does not complain, but, when I complained about my connection being slow (for a time it only reached something like 10-20mbps), they fixed it (apparently there was a configuration error in their network).
I now pay 29.1EUR/month for 200/200/80/80, I will pay 23.31EUR/month for the 300mbps connection.
The difference is the time precision.
My electricity meter is the old electromechanical one and is outside. The speed at which the disk is spinning indicates the power consumed, but if you want to know when I use more power you would have to stand next to the meter and count the revolutions. Or come to it a few times a day to take the readings.
Of course the power company knows how much energy I use in a month, because I have to pay for it.
The "smart meters" collect the data 750 to 3000 times a month, so up to about 100 times a day. This is way more data points that you could reasonably gather by sending people to take the readings.
Ok, fair point. But who seriously bothers running anonymous FTP servers these days rather than simply making the files available through a web server?
FTP was an example. I am sure that there are more services that one would want to run on the same hostname but on different machines.
Much the same as people blocking ICMP echo requests and traceroutes because they think it increases their security - in actual fact it does very little for the network security...
Well, it (with stealthed ports) makes port scan slower since you do not kjnow how long you should wait for the answer. If ICMP echo requests are not blocked, then you ping the host and then know how long you should wait. Now, if all ports are closed then there is no difference, but if some ports are open (because you run some service not for everyone) it will take longer to find them. Nonstandard ports help too since some services do not identify themselves so you will take longer to find out what service this is.
It all depends.
If the user really barely knows how to turn the computer on, Linux and Windows are probably the same in terms of difficulty to use - all the installed software works about the same and you need to ask someone else to install new hardware/software.
OTOH, if the user knows a bit more and, say, is capable of installing new hardware (and drivers and software) on Windows e could have problems with Linux. While apt-get and similar tools are very useful for installing software, if the app is not in the repository there could be problems. If the app in question is quite new and needs newer versions of some system libraries there could be big problems.
An example with hardware - in the office we bought a Canon multifunction device. Why Canon? Because they have drivers for Linux. So, the device will work on Linux? Yes, but the installation still was a bit difficult. The printer was recognizes and everything was fine with it. Scanner, on the other and, needed drivers from Canon site. I downloaded and installed them. The scanner works, but if I launch the scanning application as a regular user (not root), it does not find the scanner. After some googling I found that i needed to set permissions for the port or something (it happened a while ago). Wile I could do that, I don't think that a normal user (one who could install drivers on Windows using device manager or setup.exe) would be able to.