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I ran into something new yesterday that I like. It's called the Fedora Media Writer. It's intended to set up a live USB memory stick with the latest version of Fedora on it. But if you have an ISO on your computer of a different distro, it will use it instead. I created a live Ubuntu stick that works great. Much faster than the live version on a CD.

Great tool for your tool box. Boot up any computer to Linux for troubleshooting.

Get it here. It's a 16.6 mb download.

Another advantage of live USB drives is that they can be set up to have a persistence file - settings changes and (small) files can be stored on the live USB drive between sessions.

Alternatives to Fedora Media Writer include Rufus (for Windows) and usb-creator-gtk (for Linux).

cmbl wrote:Another advantage of live USB drives is that they can be set up to have a persistence file - settings changes and (small) files can be stored on the live USB drive between sessions.

Alternatives to Fedora Media Writer include Rufus (for Windows) and usb-creator-gtk (for Linux).

I'll have to try Rufus again sometime.

I don't know much about Linux, but is it practical to replace Windows all together for just internet and email? How safe is it and does it require virus protection like Windows does? I tried to look into Linux, but there's so many different types which confused me.

Haystack wrote:I don't know much about Linux, but is it practical to replace Windows all together for just internet and email? How safe is it and does it require virus protection like Windows does? I tried to look into Linux, but there's so many different types which confused me.

Just internet and email? Sure. Firefox and Chrome web browsers work on linux; you can access email either through a web browser or using an email client like Thunderbird.

A good linux distribution to get started with would be Ubuntu - it's one of the more user-friendly choices and has good hardware support. You can try it out with a live USB drive, without installing it on your computer's hard drive.

I wouldn't consider antivirus software to be a "must-have" on linux. As always, avoid clicking on suspicious links, etc. etc.

(I type this post from Firefox on Ubuntu.)

I would recommend Mint for a novice Windows user over Ubuntu. Mint has a very similar user interface to Windows. Ubuntu is a LOT different.

Linux is sooo much more secure than Windows. 95% of the servers on the internet run some form of Linux. Anti virus software is not needed.

If you have a flash drive, use the USB drive tool Lester suggests and make a copy. Plug it into your computer and boot it up. It will not affect or harm your Windows version doing that. Try it and see if you like it. If so, there should be an install button on the Live (temporary) version you are running from the flash drive.

It actually works well for older systems. Not near as demanding as Windows.

Robert wrote: Linux is sooo much more secure than Windows. 95% of the servers on the internet run some form of Linux. Anti virus software is not needed.

Robert, you ought to apply for a job in the news industry. You said earlier to leave these kinds of statements to the professionals, right?

Kaspersky Lab 2Q2016 Report wrote: Correlation between attacks launched from Windows and Linux botnets.

q2_ddos_2016_en_7.png (22.43 KiB) Viewed 1574 times

You suggesting that the botnets are from viruses on linux machines? If so, I have not heard of such. I know that linux servers accounts that people set up to run bots. I used to run multiple IRC bots from linux servers. That is not hacking the server just running an account on that server.

http://www.howtogeek.com/135392/htg-exp ... en-you-do/

Yes, according to Kaspersky the share of DDOS attacks launched from Linux-based botnets increased significantly compared with the share launched from Windows-based botnets.

That being said, I think you're on target to the extent that currently the Linux market share of personal machines is small enough that it's not highly attractive to cyber-criminals. Security by obscurity is what some people call it. The thing is if a Linux machine isn't configured properly it is vulnerable, but if a non-technical user has been convinced that Linux is immune from attack, he won't know to be careful.

ken_sylvania wrote:Yes, according to Kaspersky the share of DDOS attacks launched from Linux-based botnets increased significantly compared with the share launched from Windows-based botnets.

The reason for the botnets is because there are so many more linux servers. If you look at it from percentages, Windows servers are much more vulnerable because there is a higher percent if them in the botnets then there are servers on the net.

Most desktop installs of Linux are very safe. It is when someone goes tweaking it, that issues can arise. Yes, all systems have vulnerabilities. One should always consider the percentages when looking at something like this. The percentage chance of getting a virus on a linux desktop is so low, that virus software is not needed. This. in itself, speeds up the system and reduces resources needed to run. This makes it a really good alternative for older systems.