This is like accessing email through IMAP rather than POP. With IMAP, email will sync up ragardless of where you are accessing it from if you use a program like T-bird or Outlook. Also, your email provider will maintain your emails rather than you having to back them up all the time in case of a computer crash.

The downside of IMAP vs. POP is that not all email providers offer both. Gmail and AOL now offer IMAP and both are free. Other providers do not offer IMAP or their service may not be free.

Also, as I understand it GIMP (for your graphics needs) has both Windoze and Linux versions. This should enable you to switch between Windoze and Linux while not having to know 2 different programs.

Finally, looking forward, Firefox Labs has Weave. This is a Firefox extension that will enable you to sync your browsers across multiple computers and locations (if you are on the road). Weave can be set up to save and sync bookmarks, browsing history, passwords and saved form data, as well as cookies and open tabs. The last two have been troublesome for me so I do not opt to save/sync them.

The downside is that Weave is so new that the Mozilla Labs folks have so little server capacity that if you do not already have a server account, you probably cannot get one for the foreseeable future.

The NSA has their own Linux distribution. Using the term “homemade” is rather ignorant.

jdkchem on October 19, 2008 at 5:48 PM

“Homemade” is referring to the fact it’s a base not a full OS with all the user tools most expect… and you have to build it at home… hint hint for the “ignorant”

to make it even more simple for you to understand… it’s like buying an engine and a frame on tires with a steering wheel… sure you can call it a car… but it sure doesn’t
drive like my mustang… or in a Mac’s case like a Yugo…
p.s. if the government chooses it, it must be the wrong choice… argue that…

I’ve been involved with linux ever since Linus released the very first attempt at a kernel. It’s been a wild ride watching it grow up.

Ubuntu seems like a popular choice for people that wish to reap the benefits of stability and performance that come with linux, yet aren’t concerned with the technicalities.

Red Hat has become a serious ‘corporate’ contender, and I have Red Hat Enterprise 5 on some serious hardware. They are intentionally ‘behind the curve’ technically, in order to ensure that only mature, established, stable technology is incorporated into their product. They’re not *that* behind, however….

Fedora is a bleeding edge distro. I love Fedora 9 and am eagerly awaiting 10 – it is expected to dramatically improve webcam integration, something you will potentially find troublesome with current distros. Fedora span off from Red Hat, and is essentially their hardcore R&D lab. Red Hat tends to be 1-2 releases behind Fedora.

I have not used or needed Windoze for many years (OK, I confess to having a variety of ‘doze versions running through VMWare, but that’s only for cross-platform testing, honest)

Recent advances in linux are reaping serious benefits for the overall distro. Between Mac (based on FreeBSD) and modern linux, I reckon you’ll come to find that you can reestablish yourself on a much more powerful platform.

Chin up, stiff upper lip, jolly hockey sticks eh what?!?!?!

I understand The GIMP is quite capable. [herself]

I’m by no means a professional image editor, but the Gimp has worked well for the little photo editing I’ve done.

Ubuntu based, with a really cool application installing online service (free!)

I’ve never looked back.

I understand The GIMP is quite capable. But I’ve never had reason to dig into it. I write software (on windows) rather than edit pictures. I use Linux for a backup laptop OS as well as a test install for the firewall machine before I upgrade distros. I manage the home network, on Linux, for around 40 different odds and ends on the network here from Ethernet to DMX converters to the firewall and mail server.

One of these days I’m going to give “MINT” a try as a Ubuntu spin-off distro. It looks interesting. (I am not a fanatic about Open Sores er Source distributions. I see nothing wrong with asking for something in return for writing software others can use. It eats months of my life during which I have to eat, too.)

{^_-}

Diogenes of Sinope on October 20, 2008 at 12:25 AM

oops, I use Linux most of the time. I am sorry. Had some devastating news. Then read your answer. Got mad and realized might not have been meant the way I took it. I apologize.

oh shut the hell up, retard.

Diogenes of Sinope on October 19, 2008 at 5:45 PM

Same to you, you can go f**k yourself also

sheebe on October 19, 2008 at 7:02 PM

Shame you can’t read and aren’t intelligent enough to recognize satire even when it is labeled as such… Guess it shows the IQ of the typical Windoze user.

I have been using Linux/Mythtv as my Tivo for at least 9 years.

Correction I have been using Linux for 9 years and mythtv as my TiVo for roughly 3 years.

Ed Morrissey on October 19, 2008 at 11:04 AM

OK, sir. Sorry for my impatience.

And what in Ubuntu works better than Windows, and what doesn’t?

Network Security.

I have been using Linux since 1999. My computers (2 Windows 1 Linux (Redhat) and 1 Solaris) sit behind a firewall.

I have been using Linux/Mythtv as my Tivo for at least 9 years.

Since I travel having a internet connection to home is a must have.

I would never allow my Windows computers to be directly accessible over the internet, however I have no problems leaving ssh on my Linux machine accessible.

I locked down ssh so only one user is allowed to login (AllowUsers), I use public/private encryption keys to authenticate, and you have 2 attempts to get the username/passphrase right, if you don’t my linux machine is programed to ignore any other connection attempt from you using fail2ban.

That said it is easy for me to connect (takes less then 30 secs) once I am connected I use ssh port forwarding to connect to my Windows host and ssh again to connect to the Solaris host.

That is something you can not do from a Windows host.

Get a Mac.
Less “geeky”

Nuff said.

Over.

1GooDDaDDy on October 19, 2008 at 10:35 AM

I think that is why Liberals like Mac, it requires no thought.

When you make your living on a computer like we do, you can’t just retool it just aint that easy.

Hidebound blogger…

So that’s it ! I thought a much. It’s the hide-binding that causes the reflected glare on camera.

Diogenes of Sinope on October 19, 2008 at 5:45 PM

Same to you, you can go f**k yourself also

The NSA has their own Linux distribution. Using the term “homemade” is rather ignorant.

jdkchem on October 19, 2008 at 5:48 PM

Not quite. You are thinking of SELinux, a mandatory access control (MAC) overlay which was developed by the NSA, but which is now maintained by the open source community. SELinux is, by default, part of Red Hat Linux and Fedora. Ubuntu has SELinux as an option — the Captain can fetch it down using Ubuntu’s apt-get protocols, but it is not installed by default under Ubuntu.

Captain, to install SELinux under Ubuntu, use the following command:
sudo apt-get install selinux

SELinux is needed if you are going to install a webserver which will use php, python, java, or some other interpretive language to generate its pages, or which will use CGI. SELinux prevents (or, rather, helps prevent) a hacker from turning your webserver into a bot by denying use of resources normally not utilized by your webserver.

For desktop users, it prevents execution of programs not placed into certain directories, and prevents access to data not normally associated with the program being executed.

I would not recommend that the Captain try it until he is familiar with a few other knobs and whistles on his new Ubuntu system.

Oh, to remove it:
sudo apt-get remove selinux

I switched to OpenOffice a few months ago when I gave up on the resource-hogging Microsoft Office, and I have never regretted it.

I switched about 90% of my work over to Google Docs, since Microsoft Office is a resource and $$$ pig. The Google spreadsheet app is one of the most impressive Web 2.0 apps I’ve used, and its market data formulas are useful features that Microsoft doesn’t have. Most important, the Google suite gives you instant collaboration, ability to work from multiple machines and fewer worries about lost work from a hard drive crash.

gh on October 19, 2008 at 12:05 PM

Linux Mint is an Ubuntu derivative. Check their “about page.”

WinXP Pro still blows it away all day long for now.

ex-Democrat on October 19, 2008 at 12:33 PM

Fixed.

Kaptain Amerika on October 19, 2008 at 2:37 PM

The NSA has their own Linux distribution. Using the term “homemade” is rather ignorant.

Very few Mac people were likable.

sheebe on October 19, 2008 at 2:37 PM

oh shut the hell up, retard.