The title of the question gets it right... but then the summary does not.
Security is not Programs. Security is a procedure. Part of this procedure can utilise programs , but these will be of no use if your procedure is not adequate.
Set up your box securely, configure access-rights, etc and use AV/firewall programs where appropriate for your situation.
Relying upon programs to be your security is not effective.
The adjective "facetious" has 1 sense in WordNet.
1. bantering, facetious, tongue-in-cheek -- (cleverly amusing in tone; "a bantering tone"; "facetious remarks"; "tongue-in-cheek advice")
Interestingly, it uses all of the English vowels A, E, I, O, U in the order they appear in the alphabet.
Is it not possible to grab these "advisories" of patches and automate an install of them?
I'm pretty new to linux, but i hear of Cron Jobs (some pr0n thing?), syncing with servers, APT/YUM/etc...
I work in Windows support, and a lot of Joe 6-pack have to get me to turn on Auto-Update. Surely the tech who sets up a linux box for J. 6-Pack can set up a cron-job for them, too?
Personally, I do NOT want my default install to be downloading and installing stuff behind my back, no matter who labels it "Security Update". I seem to meet a lot of Linux-Users who have a similar opinion... especially us Slackers.
You make good points for exactly why there is a large anti-AoL feeling on/.
"aol allows computer dumb people to use computers." Bastards. "They break the computers ". Bastards. " they eventualy get better at computers, which makes new slashdoters." Bastards.
"Finally, if we really want to get grandma's, sisters and Joe Sixpack off of Windows, we should probably start promoting KDE as the "OS". It's what they see anyway, and it shouldn't really matter if it runs on top of Linux, BSD, Solaris, whatever..."
Not sure we should start refering to KDE as an OS... but i agree with your point. To Joe 6-pack, the "OS" is what they see, the user-interface. They don't care whether it is Linux, Windows, or Babbages Difference Engine runing the show, so long as they can play Quake, browse the web and send jokes to everyone on their e-mail lists.
In my experience, most average Windows users struggle to set up their machines. I find the long flame-wars about ease-of-install for non-techies to be mostly irrelevant, as a techie will be setting up pretty much any system. For "someone who just wants to use Office Apps", it is the simplest thing... techie sets it up , off you go. It is the people who wish to constantly change things that might have trouble.
I agree with your point about CSS. Why write to a non-compliant browser, and then mangle it to becomne compliant? Surely one can write compliant code, and then (if needed) mangle it to work with IEs quirks? What if one was building a car? Build it to a design, and then have to weld extra bits/chop bits off/fit devices to make it road-legal? For an engineer, talking about logical processes, he seems to have this the wrong way round.
"tutorials that speak to average people, and explain things like rm, and ls... AND GIVE EXAMPLES" Best advice today. GIVE EXAMPLES. Preferably simple, common ones. e.g. for mount, give example of "mounting a floppy disk".
"Students must make their room available for inspection to any University staff at any point."
"Students must declare thier intolerance of Homosexuality."
"Students must vote Republican"
Failure to follow these simple guidlines will result in expulsion.
I agree. Why worry about these laws that the University is breaking - you signed away your rights to complain on page 45, paragraph 6 line 4 of your Studetn EULA. or was it the disclaimer at he back "Signing this document (including not signing it) terminates your rights to criticize the University in any way, or risk expulsion."
You are quite right. If he doesn;t know by now, then why should any one tell him. All this "learning" and "asking for advice"... terrible. Although your response assumed he asked "Where do I find free avnti-virus software?" whereas he actually asked "How can I tell if I am a spam-zombie?"
Could you please give me a list of your approved "Ask Slashdot" questions so we can run all submissions past your superior list before wasting any more of anyones time with questions that you obviously know the answers too.
1) NEVER download an e-mail attachment.
#Loose a lot of funcionality of email - reduced to pure text.
2) Use Firefox instead of IE.
#Good Call
3) Use Thunderbird instead of Outlook
#Again, Good
4) Do NOT visit untrustworthy websites
#Do you have a list of which sites are trustworthy/untrusted for me please?
5) Do NOT download any software from the internet and install it.
#Does this include software/updates from windowsupdate.microsoft.com?
#Drivers for my hardware?
#Anti-Virus/anti-Spyware?
6) Have a firewall like zone alarm or sygate, or better have another computer between you and the net with a firewall on it. Or have a hardware firewall. Proper network level security keeps the worms out almost guaranteed.
#A router with firewall works wonders.
7) If you have wireless lock it down. You don't want a drive by person to start sending spam out your pipe.
#Good advice, in general - Lock Down your Wireless.
8) DO get all the windows updates that are security fixes. The ones that aren't security fixes you can choose to get or not get at your own discretion.
#But you told me not to download software from the net. And not to go to untrusted sites.
The outcome of this is, surely, that we shoudl change the laws? If a law is routinely broken, and efforts to stop/catch the law-breakers ends in public outcry, then in my book that means "bad law". You say they got rid of the cameras, i presume people continued toi drive at 100-140 kmph. Did they change the law, or just say "oh, break the law then." ?
" but even I can't imagine not charging SOMETHING for it."
You easily grasp the concept of Open Source computing, and even free-as-in-beer code, but struggle to comprehend free-as-in-beer art?
Many artists I know are willing to donate pieces for free, especially if they think it will get them noticed.
Whether I can persuade them to design something specific to my project rather than their own ideas is a different matter.
Interesting list of posts. With the amount of grammer-nazis patrolling/. , I was surprised to see the amount of badly-written comments deriding the idea of a grammar-checker.
Our governments are run by above-average intellegence CEOs.
Proof needed? Corporate indocrination of our children, such as a certain "IP 101" class i heard of...
Using the Public School System, I am paying the government to educate my kids, just like you suggest.
Re:AT LAST - A NON-UBERGEEK approach!
on
Moving To Linux
·
· Score: 1
I have come across this attitude MANY times, in IRC, forums, and 3D-Life. Questions such as "How do I put my Home directory on a seperate drive?", "Why don;t my ATI Drivers work?" (after spending 3hours RTFMing, googling etc) have been met with derision, insults and after one clumsy mistake (copying a bad XF86config over a good one, without backups!), warned of being banned from receiving help due to making a mistake!
I know that not all Linux Geeks are like this. and have come across some who are more than happy to spend more time than I deserve sorting out my troubles (THANKS JEEPSTER!).
People are the same the world over, and each grouping, be it Blacks, Jews, Linux-Geeks, Jocks, Truckers or Accountants has its share of asshats. Some more than their share 8o)
I presume you don;t write games software. Do all us gamers have a right to pirate games because we "are using the software as a hobbiest, or not-for-profit ?
> I can't return squat because the box is open.
When I buy software, I buy from a local reputable vendor and check before hand about returns policies. If it does not work, I return it under the Sales Of Goods Act, refering to "Mechantable Quality", "Fit for the Purpose it was sold" and "As Described" as appropriate. If the store will not refund me (has not yet happened), I have the option of small-claims court, and of course, makeing sure neither me or the peoplei reccomend to ever shop there again.
Does any one else have trouble viewing these pages in 640x480/16bit-colour?
It seems that providers make it as difficult as they can to actually get hold of graphics drivers if one does not already have some!
Can't remember the default behaviour, but the Tools - Downloads - Options section has some easy fixes .
>> Download -> gets sent somewhere whithout asking, doesn't tell the user that anythings happended.
"Ask me where to save every file"/"Save all files to this folder:..."
Slashdot Mirror
'Method for licensing software to an entity, including determining a per-employee cost for the software ...'
Software is Liscenced, not sold.
The title of the question gets it right ... but then the summary does not.
Security is not Programs. Security is a procedure.
Part of this procedure can utilise programs , but these will be of no use if your procedure is not adequate.
Set up your box securely, configure access-rights, etc and use AV/firewall programs where appropriate for your situation.
Relying upon programs to be your security is not effective.
Now why does Slashdot default my replie to HTML?? USE PREVIEW! D'OH!
The adjective "facetious" has 1 sense in WordNet. 1. bantering, facetious, tongue-in-cheek -- (cleverly amusing in tone; "a bantering tone"; "facetious remarks"; "tongue-in-cheek advice") Interestingly, it uses all of the English vowels A, E, I, O, U in the order they appear in the alphabet.
Is it not possible to grab these "advisories" of patches and automate an install of them? I'm pretty new to linux, but i hear of Cron Jobs (some pr0n thing?), syncing with servers, APT/YUM/etc ...
I work in Windows support, and a lot of Joe 6-pack have to get me to turn on Auto-Update. Surely the tech who sets up a linux box for J. 6-Pack can set up a cron-job for them, too?
Personally, I do NOT want my default install to be downloading and installing stuff behind my back, no matter who labels it "Security Update". I seem to meet a lot of Linux-Users who have a similar opinion ... especially us Slackers.
You make good points for exactly why there is a large anti-AoL feeling on /.
"aol allows computer dumb people to use computers." Bastards.
"They break the computers ". Bastards.
" they eventualy get better at computers, which makes new slashdoters." Bastards.
"Finally, if we really want to get grandma's, sisters and Joe Sixpack off of Windows, we should probably start promoting KDE as the "OS". It's what they see anyway, and it shouldn't really matter if it runs on top of Linux, BSD, Solaris, whatever..."
... but i agree with your point. To Joe 6-pack, the "OS" is what they see, the user-interface. They don't care whether it is Linux, Windows, or Babbages Difference Engine runing the show, so long as they can play Quake, browse the web and send jokes to everyone on their e-mail lists.
Not sure we should start refering to KDE as an OS
In my experience, most average Windows users struggle to set up their machines. I find the long flame-wars about ease-of-install for non-techies to be mostly irrelevant, as a techie will be setting up pretty much any system. ... techie sets it up , off you go.
For "someone who just wants to use Office Apps", it is the simplest thing
It is the people who wish to constantly change things that might have trouble.
I agree with your point about CSS. Why write to a non-compliant browser, and then mangle it to becomne compliant?
Surely one can write compliant code, and then (if needed) mangle it to work with IEs quirks?
What if one was building a car? Build it to a design, and then have to weld extra bits/chop bits off/fit devices to make it road-legal?
For an engineer, talking about logical processes, he seems to have this the wrong way round.
"tutorials that speak to average people, and explain things like rm, and ls ... AND GIVE EXAMPLES"
Best advice today. GIVE EXAMPLES. Preferably simple, common ones. e.g. for mount, give example of "mounting a floppy disk".
"Students must make their room available for inspection to any University staff at any point." "Students must declare thier intolerance of Homosexuality." "Students must vote Republican" Failure to follow these simple guidlines will result in expulsion.
I agree. Why worry about these laws that the University is breaking - you signed away your rights to complain on page 45, paragraph 6 line 4 of your Studetn EULA. or was it the disclaimer at he back "Signing this document (including not signing it) terminates your rights to criticize the University in any way, or risk expulsion."
You are quite right. If he doesn;t know by now, then why should any one tell him. All this "learning" and "asking for advice"... terrible.
Although your response assumed he asked "Where do I find free avnti-virus software?" whereas he actually asked "How can I tell if I am a spam-zombie?"
Could you please give me a list of your approved "Ask Slashdot" questions so we can run all submissions past your superior list before wasting any more of anyones time with questions that you obviously know the answers too.
1) NEVER download an e-mail attachment. #Loose a lot of funcionality of email - reduced to pure text. 2) Use Firefox instead of IE. #Good Call 3) Use Thunderbird instead of Outlook #Again, Good 4) Do NOT visit untrustworthy websites #Do you have a list of which sites are trustworthy/untrusted for me please? 5) Do NOT download any software from the internet and install it. #Does this include software/updates from windowsupdate.microsoft.com? #Drivers for my hardware? #Anti-Virus/anti-Spyware? 6) Have a firewall like zone alarm or sygate, or better have another computer between you and the net with a firewall on it. Or have a hardware firewall. Proper network level security keeps the worms out almost guaranteed. #A router with firewall works wonders. 7) If you have wireless lock it down. You don't want a drive by person to start sending spam out your pipe. #Good advice, in general - Lock Down your Wireless. 8) DO get all the windows updates that are security fixes. The ones that aren't security fixes you can choose to get or not get at your own discretion. #But you told me not to download software from the net. And not to go to untrusted sites.
The outcome of this is, surely, that we shoudl change the laws? If a law is routinely broken, and efforts to stop/catch the law-breakers ends in public outcry, then in my book that means "bad law". You say they got rid of the cameras, i presume people continued toi drive at 100-140 kmph. Did they change the law, or just say "oh, break the law then." ?
" but even I can't imagine not charging SOMETHING for it." You easily grasp the concept of Open Source computing, and even free-as-in-beer code, but struggle to comprehend free-as-in-beer art? Many artists I know are willing to donate pieces for free, especially if they think it will get them noticed. Whether I can persuade them to design something specific to my project rather than their own ideas is a different matter.
Interesting list of posts. With the amount of grammer-nazis patrolling /. , I was surprised to see the amount of badly-written comments deriding the idea of a grammar-checker.
Our governments are run by above-average intellegence CEOs. Proof needed? Corporate indocrination of our children, such as a certain "IP 101" class i heard of ...
Using the Public School System, I am paying the government to educate my kids, just like you suggest.
I have come across this attitude MANY times, in IRC, forums, and 3D-Life. Questions such as "How do I put my Home directory on a seperate drive?", "Why don;t my ATI Drivers work?" (after spending 3hours RTFMing, googling etc) have been met with derision, insults and after one clumsy mistake (copying a bad XF86config over a good one, without backups!), warned of being banned from receiving help due to making a mistake! I know that not all Linux Geeks are like this. and have come across some who are more than happy to spend more time than I deserve sorting out my troubles (THANKS JEEPSTER!). People are the same the world over, and each grouping, be it Blacks, Jews, Linux-Geeks, Jocks, Truckers or Accountants has its share of asshats. Some more than their share 8o)
I presume you don;t write games software. Do all us gamers have a right to pirate games because we "are using the software as a hobbiest, or not-for-profit ?
> I can't return squat because the box is open. When I buy software, I buy from a local reputable vendor and check before hand about returns policies. If it does not work, I return it under the Sales Of Goods Act, refering to "Mechantable Quality", "Fit for the Purpose it was sold" and "As Described" as appropriate. If the store will not refund me (has not yet happened), I have the option of small-claims court, and of course, makeing sure neither me or the peoplei reccomend to ever shop there again.
Does any one else have trouble viewing these pages in 640x480/16bit-colour? It seems that providers make it as difficult as they can to actually get hold of graphics drivers if one does not already have some!
Can't remember the default behaviour, but the Tools - Downloads - Options section has some easy fixes . >> Download -> gets sent somewhere whithout asking, doesn't tell the user that anythings happended. "Ask me where to save every file"/"Save all files to this folder: ..."
Like the "This is from MS ... Click here to go to ms.com and install the latest patches" that i keep getting?