This is the continuing story of a family who is switching the kids' computer from Windows to Ubuntu Linux. Long story short: The computer had been infected with some nasty malware. Try as I might, I couldn't get rid of all of them. Since I was going to be re-formatting and re-installing anyway, I asked the father if I could just install Linux rather than Windows. After he gave me the go-ahead, I installed the latest version, which is 10.10 or "Maverick Meerkat".
The one thing I noted off the bat was that the install was much more streamlined than in previous versions. It even asked if I wanted to do updates during the install, as opposed to doing the updates manually afterwards. Plus, and here's a big one, they asked if I wanted to add the ability to handle proprietary formats (Helloooo, MP3!) up front. Yes, I do. I try to be as software- and hardware-agnostic as I can. Right now, as much as open source purists hate it, MP3 is the primary method for storing digital music. The family has many, many songs already in that format. It would be more of a pain to convert them than to simply make it possible to load the appropriate (but proprietary) codec on the system.
As stated in my previous post, I added accounts for each of the two kids (ages 13 and 10), plus admin accounts for me and the parents. And to make things simpler for everyone (the drive is about an hour), I went ahead and added an SSH server. I included a public key-based authentication and removed the password-only from their system; while I was installing the computer, I set up their router to allow the SSH request to be forwarded to this computer.
As an added bennie, I noted that, when loading programs onto the kids accounts, the system asked for the username and password of one of the two admin accounts (me or the parents). No more did I need to worry about the whole "make the kids temporarily superuser" stuff. Just put in my username, type in my password, click and done.
Yesterday, they finally got their new (but old) computer. One thing I was really interested in was to find out precisely what the kids were using the computer for. Mind you, neither of these kids is an online gamer. (That kid, the oldest, is now in college.) But the youngest does check out various kid-related sites such as poptropica.com. It turns out that all either of them really needed was a word processor (for which they have OpenOffice) for school-related projects and a web browser (Firefox). Plus, with this version of Ubuntu, Firefox comes ready to play. No need to manually add Flash or anything. Once its loaded, its ready to rock.
After installing the computer, I walked each kid through the basics of starting up the computer, logging into his / her account, opening up OpenOffice (I put the requisite icons directly on the desktop), and opening up the browser. For the youngest, I had him open up his normal web sites, then I created bookmarks for each. I also added several of them directly to his Firefox bookmark toolbar. Once he opens Firefox, he has to make one click to go to his most favorite sites.
The one problem I had was trying to get their old printer to work. It's a Dell 720 color printer, and I could not get it to work. I scoured the Interwebz for how-tos. Several people spoke of using a particular driver for the Lexmark Z615 printer, since the Dell is allegedly a re-branded copy of that printer. No luck. I couldn't get it to work. I then tried to get the computer to print to an Epson printer which was connected to the parents' computer. The parents' computer is running WinXP. And at the moment I was trying to make it work, they happened to have left for some errands. Since I didn't have access to that computer, I decided to save that one for another day. For now, the kids will have to save their files to a thumb drive and print them on the parents' computer. Not ideal, but workable until we can figure out a better solution. I'd really like to get that Dell printer to work. Regardless, a minor glitch and, frankly, I can't blame the OS for it. Dell didn't provide a driver for it; besides, it's a low-end (I'm being polite.) printer anyway.
So, when I woke up this morning, I SSHed into their box and did a quick "who" command. Who's on the box this morning? One of the parents. Just before I left, I showed the father how to save a document in the MS Word format (since he has to send a lot of letters that way). And he was impressed with the ability to export to a PDF. His eyes actually lit up when I showed him that. Could he be doing something with OpenOffice? Possibly. My guess (and a quick "ps" command seems to bear this out) is that he's surfing the Internet using Firefox. Oh, and he was really impressed with how quickly the computer booted up, compared to the ages it took when Windows was still loaded.
I imagine their will be other problems (aside from the no-printer problem) in the future, but so far, so good.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Family Linux Box - An Experiment Begins
Can a family that has used nothing but Windows convert to Linux? I may be about to find out. I have a family who have two desktop computers. One computer is for the parents; the other is for the children, ages 13 and 10. The kids computer was infected with what Norton stated was "11 risks". The risks were various trojan horses, general viruses, and a rootkit. I've tried all of the standard procedures to get rid of the various pieces of malware, all to no avail. I asked their father if I could load Ubuntu Linux on the computer. He said to go ahead.
The computer is now loaded with version 10.4 (Lucid Lynx), though I may update it to 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat). I've added an admin account for myself, an account for each of the kids, and an account for the parents.
I've already identified one problem. Neither of the kids is a super user, which means neither of them can use "sudo" to add programs or change their account in any way. So, while they can keep each other out of his and her respective files, they can't add any meaningful programs. Further, I don't know how I, as an admin, can do it for them. What I'm thinking right now is to temporarily make them super users, make the changes I need, then remove their super user status.
If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments. Thanks!
The computer is now loaded with version 10.4 (Lucid Lynx), though I may update it to 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat). I've added an admin account for myself, an account for each of the kids, and an account for the parents.
I've already identified one problem. Neither of the kids is a super user, which means neither of them can use "sudo" to add programs or change their account in any way. So, while they can keep each other out of his and her respective files, they can't add any meaningful programs. Further, I don't know how I, as an admin, can do it for them. What I'm thinking right now is to temporarily make them super users, make the changes I need, then remove their super user status.
If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments. Thanks!
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Damn onions
I'm a regular reader of the web site Blackfive. One of the best things they do (among many) is to honor those who have fallen, to make those who stop by the site pause for a moment to reflect on someone who has given their life so that I can have mine.
It was while reading a recent one that I remembered two words that I'd come across in the comments for a similar article. The words were, "Damn onions". When I first saw those words, I understood. I've discovered, though, that not everyone gets it. In case you don't, let me explain.
The short answer is that the story, like chopping onions, made the reader cry. But in my mind, it's more than that. The readers of Blackfive cover all of the military services. I've seen comments from those in the Coast Guard, Air Force, Marines, Army and Navy. While they may rib and kid each other, the one bond they share that no outsider can truly understand is that they are and have been sent into harm's way. Many of them subscribe to the macho world of the military. Be cool, calm and professional, but always have a plan to kill everyone you meet. That kind of thing. Therefore, showing emotion, even through the relative anonymity of the interwebz, is not something that comes easily to them. When they read of a comrade who has died, though, it's gonna happen. The tears will flow. They can fight it, but frankly, they'd rather not. They could type out everything they're feeling, but words really don't suffice. The emotion is too raw, and perhaps (just as with me) they cannot write well. Words might be in their head, but whether they are the right words put into the right order is another thing, entirely. So, to keep up appearances, we get the comment, "Damn onions."
It's those two words for which the true significance would take a thick book to fundamentally explain. They may not want to show emotion in public, especially to a bunch of strangers on the internet. But still, they are. They are crying. Just as I am, having read the story of SSG Miller, recently (and posthumously) awarded the Medal of Honor. If you are ever reading a story of a comrade, a warrior, someone who has given their life for their country, and you see those two words, understand the depth that those two words represent.
It was while reading a recent one that I remembered two words that I'd come across in the comments for a similar article. The words were, "Damn onions". When I first saw those words, I understood. I've discovered, though, that not everyone gets it. In case you don't, let me explain.
The short answer is that the story, like chopping onions, made the reader cry. But in my mind, it's more than that. The readers of Blackfive cover all of the military services. I've seen comments from those in the Coast Guard, Air Force, Marines, Army and Navy. While they may rib and kid each other, the one bond they share that no outsider can truly understand is that they are and have been sent into harm's way. Many of them subscribe to the macho world of the military. Be cool, calm and professional, but always have a plan to kill everyone you meet. That kind of thing. Therefore, showing emotion, even through the relative anonymity of the interwebz, is not something that comes easily to them. When they read of a comrade who has died, though, it's gonna happen. The tears will flow. They can fight it, but frankly, they'd rather not. They could type out everything they're feeling, but words really don't suffice. The emotion is too raw, and perhaps (just as with me) they cannot write well. Words might be in their head, but whether they are the right words put into the right order is another thing, entirely. So, to keep up appearances, we get the comment, "Damn onions."
It's those two words for which the true significance would take a thick book to fundamentally explain. They may not want to show emotion in public, especially to a bunch of strangers on the internet. But still, they are. They are crying. Just as I am, having read the story of SSG Miller, recently (and posthumously) awarded the Medal of Honor. If you are ever reading a story of a comrade, a warrior, someone who has given their life for their country, and you see those two words, understand the depth that those two words represent.
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