[Aqgkvwzm]

Ok, so i am needing a firewall (didn't even think about it until i was going to sleep, and it just occured to me last night for some reason). Any recommendations on the best one?

Never configured one before, so keep that in mind.

Also, the torrents.....what is the chance of viral infection on the linux machine? Can i DL a tor, scan it, and make the resulting file windows safe to protect my machines?

my father in law, i just put ubuntu on his laptop. he asked about limewire for another laptop, but i told him i would take his computer away if he did that (since i fix his breaks). if the torrents are somewhat safe for the ubuntu laptop, i could have him download them that way, scan them, and then make them windows friendly. what do you think about my approach?

[Ruiceara]

Firewalls are built into the core of the OS. There are no third party firewalls in linux. Just fancy GUIs to administer them. For basic use install GUFW. It is in the repositories and will do you fine.

What are you trying to download via limewire? Music? Videos? You can use a virusscanner in Linux to scan windows files but only if the virus scanners is aware of them. (Most are) There are almost no Linux viruses. Even if you download a Windows virus infected file onto your Linux machine it will not be able to do damage to the Linux box. It's like using Chevy Parts for a Ford. They don't fit together.

[Irrampbroow]

it is my father in law. i think he wants music, but i am unsure. he may want some movies. when i had his computer, he had gone about 9 months without a virus scanner. when i installed and updated comodo, it scanned clean. i couldn't believe it, so i checked his history. several months of only browsing MSN, Yahoo, and espn.com.

but if he starts to use limewire, i know he will get hosed. he isn't savvy at all. that is why i want him to use a tor client on the machine i put linux on. but if he wants to use those files on his windows machine, i want to see if we can scan them before ever copying them to his flash drive and if it might be a viable approach.

i found a scanner that removes windows viruses in the repository. but it will only be as good as its definitions set.

[byncnombmub]

For what it is worth AVG has a free Linux version.

http://free.avg.com/us-en/download.prd-afl

You would download the deb file version.

[WhileKelf]

you know, that helps.

i may advise him to get kaspersky on his windows machine. scan with avg after the torrent is DL'd. move to flash drive, then scan it with kaspersky before moving it to his windows machine.

surely that will catch just about everything, right?

and if not, reinstalling is not that hard i guess. personally, i am going to get a 16gb fjash and just keep all my music and photos on it. just in case. haven't lost any data in the past 10 years, but I have (i think) missed a few close calls.

[reachmanxx]

Music and Videos can be run often just as easy on your Ubuntu box. The whole point of going to it is to ditch Windows and stop being Bill Gates' b----.

[TubOppomo]

that won't work for him, at least not at first.

if i can get him familiar enough with it to handle the updates on his own, i think we will be doing good.

i can teach him a process without trouble. But he is from that generation that just doesn't get the concept behind the process. my wife is kind of like that too. tech noob. i am not a whole lot better, but i understand the concepts behind the processes and can figure it out as i go.

[textarchive]

If he even knows what Limewire is then I think you are not giving him the credit he deserves. Most people over 30 wouldn't have clue about it. Those over 40 know it's some way to get music that the kids like to use. Over 50 usually have never heard of it.

[wCYvMKAc]

For what it is worth AVG has a free Linux version.

http://free.avg.com/us-en/download.prd-afl

You would download the deb file version.

I wonder if it's less bloated than the latest windows version.

[lizadax]

It's still better in that regard than Norton or McAfee.

[Sopzoozyren]

Remember those three work computers that the boss wanted me to dispose of?

Well, i got one running with a netbook version of Karmic, and it is running fine. I cannot update it though, or it crashes.

But i found a 512 DDRAM today for $10 and put it in one of the machines. i then installed Lucid. It installed fine (although the machine is a little slow to boot, but it always has been). I then took my home folder backup on my jumpdrive for my regular home computer and copied it over. I haven't restarted yet, because the updater is running. But when i launched Firefox, it launched with the exact settings that i have on my home desktop computer.

Now i just need to source at least two more DDRAM sticks (if i can get three i will max out the RAM on one machine that i plan to use as a server at work). if i get them "used' i can get them almost given to me.