Microsoft broke my computer

[Bazyle]

On Bazyle Said:

Sad to reflect that the whole Post Office software debacle arose out of the premise that software is error free and engineers don’t put in back door access paths. The defence lawyers in the original cases should have been shouting “look at Microsoft”.

Nothing to do with Microsoft. Big commercial databases have different levels of access not controlled by Microsoft. There are Users and Administrators and people in between. I’ve worked as a database Admin on systems with 25 million recs and I could do anything I wanted, change anything I wanted with no audit trail. Back door makes it sound mysterious! It’s the everyday life of an Admin.

 

[old mart]

On old mart Said:

Linux Ubuntu and Mint are similar to Windows to use, but I got tangled up with the multitude of security features they seem to require. …

Almost for sure a learner problem.  Linux security is rather simpler at user level than Windows.  I guess old mart bumped into Linux being a bit different, it is, and didn’t have the time to sort it out.

Windows users are often amazed by how slickly Linux handles OS upgrades: almost no fuss!  Unlike Windows where multiple reboots are usually required, most Linux upgrades are just done without impacting the user.  And they are always voluntary!

And once you know how, finding and loading applications is mostly rather easy.   Except Linux also supports advanced upgrading such as compiling from source, and jumping ahead by loading development versions rather than the supported version.  The existence of advanced features can be confusing.   Mostly though, Linux from the desktop, does much the same as Windows, except it’s organised a bit differently, and not all Windows apps work.   The alternatives do – LibreOffice is as featured as MS-Office, and very similar in operation.

I think the best thing about Linux is that it can be tried painlessly, and without modifying the computer. Try it and see.

Takes a while to get used to Linux so don’t switch in the belief that it’s identical to Windows and/or can be learned in 10 minutes.   Effort required and not worth it if you’re stuck with Microsoft because all your software is Windows only!

Dave

 

 

[peterhod]

On peterhod Said:

On Bazyle Said:

Sad to reflect that the whole Post Office software debacle arose out of the premise that software is error free and engineers don’t put in back door access paths. The defence lawyers in the original cases should have been shouting “look at Microsoft”.

Nothing to do with Microsoft. Big commercial databases have different levels of access not controlled by Microsoft. There are Users and Administrators and people in between. I’ve worked as a database Admin on systems with 25 million recs and I could do anything I wanted, change anything I wanted with no audit trail. Back door makes it sound mysterious! It’s the everyday life of an Admin.

 

Absolutely correct.  The easiest way to hack a computer has always been to bribe or blackmail an administrator.

Bazyle used the word ‘premise’, in my opinion a better word would be ‘lie’.   This is a shocking case of corporate dishonesty involving two large companies and poor oversight of the Post Office by the owner, who happened to be the government. Persistent lies at all levels, and allowed to endure by negligence.   Still going on – I’m amazed the courts aren’t busy prosecuting those responsible.

Dave

 

 

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

 

Now working on an ancient laptop with Mint 18. Hoping to join a zoom call soon, the install of Zoom to Linux was pain free, no mantras Hoping to get Mint on PC this evening, Ill report back

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

but zoom didnt work!

[SillyOldDuffer]

On SillyOldDuffer Said:

On old mart Said:

Linux Ubuntu and Mint are similar to Windows to use, but I got tangled up with the multitude of security features they seem to require. …

 

I think the best thing about Linux is that it can be tried painlessly, and without modifying the computer. Try it and see.

 

I did read (but cannot find) that there is version of Mint that be run from a USB stick without actually installing.

 

Takes a while to get used to Linux so don’t switch in the belief that it’s identical to Windows and/or can be learned in 10 minutes.   Effort required and not worth it if you’re stuck with Microsoft because all your software is Windows only!

 

Dave

Have a spare mini PC I decided to put Linux on it so went to Linux org website (on my normal PC) and out of the 20 or so versions offered chose Mint which I downloaded to a USB stick, all very straightforward. However the next step/s to make the USB stick bootable, verify that the iso file is signed and is authentic, start to get confusing. If the user is already running Mint then there are just a a few simple commands, for a Windows PC however it gives somewhat confusing details of files to download and run, which on first glance are run from the command line.

Tonight I will take my time and see if I can make the file bootable but my first impressions is that the first few stages of a Mint installation could have been better set out, yes, I am a grumpy old man but I am really hoping to be a Linux convertee.

This page is off-putting to a newcomer

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/verify.html

 

Ian P

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Well worth persevering with the verify. It’s all to easy to end up with a non-legitimate version that has been ‘modified’ for nefarious purposes. You won’t know until it’s to late.

Mike

 

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