Last month we posted “Does Ubuntu Linux Really Need Antivirus Software?” Where there was a bit of discussion as to whether Linux needed antivirus software installed.
There were some very informative comments from readers, which showed that in reality it would be very difficult to develop Linux based viruses, and that the real use would be to protect Windows users. After some thought and a bit of playing, I was introduced to ClamAV. For those not familiar, their site description says:
“…Clam AntiVirus is an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX, designed especially for email scanning on mail gateways. It provides a number of utilities including a flexible and scalable multi-threaded daemon, a command line scanner and advanced tool for automatic database updates. The core of the package is an anti-virus engine available in a form of shared library…“
For me at least, this was a clear challenge to roll up my sleeves and create a small antivirus server (used to scan email). This would be useful to the small business owner, school, club or hobbyists in general. I’m not going to Read the full post…
Just got another message, this time from Louis. A in Florida. He asks:
“…I have kubuntu installed in my laptop computer, and everything was fine until yesterday, 4/6/08, when I was installing some additional programs from the settings menu. One of the updates that I installed created another user and also gave it admin control!!! It has now locked me out of signing into MY computer!!! Is there anyway that I can break into signing onto the system…“
There are a couple approaches you can take. Read the full post…
A question from John.P in Texas:
“…About the poll called “Are you considering a switch from Windows to Linux?” I see that almost 47% of visitors say “Yes” (so did I). I am an XP user and was wondering if you can post a short note for advice about switching to Linux?…“
What’s surprising, is when I examine the web stats for the blog, the month of March 2008 showed 41% of visitors used Windows XP! (The first week of April shows 48.8% used XP). Also, for mere interest 88.3% of browsers for the first week of April 2008 are Firefox. And, for March 2008 Firefox comprised 78.5% of visitors. This tells us that visitors are indeed Open Source users and that readers are almost a 50/50 split between Windows and other OS’s (such as Linux). Additionally, it appears from this week’s poll (the one you mentioned above) and earlier polls, that there is genuine interest in your question.
This is a hard question to answer for you in one post. To answer the question, perhaps it’s best to ask yourself this question, “Is it a good idea to switch to Linux?” or “Am I willing to take the time to explore new things and have fun?” If you’ve answered yes, read on… 
Try the LiveCD first and see if you are able to get used to the newer system. I made my choice very quickly after using it.
Obviously preparation is important. When I switched, the primary concern for me was my data. I needed a way to save all my documents, music and email. The email was an easy fix because I had already Read the full post…
Ever want to boot up your Ubuntu Linux system really quick to look something up? Sure, I think we all do that from time to time. Hate it when you get the forced file system check because you’ve booted up 30 times? I do. 
Imagine how I felt in front of a room full of young students, who were attending a small business seminar when this “lengthy” check kept us waiting, while listening to them snigger and giggle. (”Windows doesn’t do this”, “…that’s a cheap OS…”, “Get a real OS”, “…hurry up man…”, “…slooooowwwww…”, “…Linux sucks…”, and so on).
Despite the bad manners of some attendees… The topic I was presenting showed many of the ways that opensource software (including Ubuntu Linux) could help cash strapped business startups save money. Everything was ready to go, but the switch on the power bar had switched off. No big deal, it would be nice to show Ubuntu boot up anyway, that it’s really not some difficult system to use and they can quickly migrate to Linux. I didn’t expect it to do the forced check! I remember thinking the luck that it would have to be at this time, I didn’t really think is was 30 times, oh well… After explaining the benefit of such a check and how it helps to safeguard our PC’s, I finished the successful seminar presentation. But it left me with the reminder that I might want to turn that feature off or better, find an improved solution.
For users who never check their systems manually, I’d suggest not turning the feature off by configuring longer time periods between a check, rather leave your systems running the way they are. But for those of us who are a bit more Linux savvy or who like playing and tweaking with our systems, sure, let’s do the following Read the full post…
For regular readers of this blog, it comes as no surprise that I enjoy playing with and tweaking Linux systems (in this case Ubuntu Linux is the distribution of choice). I also enjoy practical, hands-on projects that we can all actually use.
One thing I often run into is helping friends fix problems with their Ubuntu Linux based PC’s. I like doing that, because it gives me a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when I’m able to help them. One drawback, is I often get a call from help after the workday is over. (That’s when I want to relax). Inevitably, I sometimes spend a long time on the phone, trying to talk them through a “fix”. Often I pay them a visit.
Wouldn’t it be nice if I could simply access their desktops and do the fix from my end? Yes, of course. On that train of thought, I figured I’d role out VNC on all of them (who want it). The best part being that it does not take a rocket science approach to accomplish. It’s fairly simple. This post is revisiting one of our earlier posts.
To enable remote connections, simply Read the full post…
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