Hey everybody, I have a friend who's having done security issues. I'm looking for an OS which is both super secure and didn't require high level skills to use. I was thinking qubez at first but after trying it out it requires quite a high level of skill to use. The main applications required are email and word. Thanks in advance Sincerely Rory Geoghegan
Rory Geoghegan via luv-main wrote:
Hey everybody, I have a friend who's having done security issues. I'm looking for an OS which is both super secure and didn't require high level skills to use.
I was thinking qubez at first but after trying it out it requires quite a high level of skill to use.
Er is that "Qubes OS" ? as at https://www.qubes-os.org/ regards Rohan McLeod ......who was trying to use it to run XP x64 as a VM on a Plextor PCIe SSD; because XP won't run much less instal to PCIe SSd's directly !
Hello Rory, On 2/18/18, Rory Geoghegan via luv-main <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Hey everybody, I have a friend who's having done security issues. I'm looking for an OS which is both super secure and didn't require high level skills to use.
Security is a process, not a product. Unskilled is inherently not secure. The less services and such that you run, and the more you tie them to local only use, the less vulnerable you are.
I was thinking qubez at first but after trying it out it requires quite a high level of skill to use.
Look at which distribution suits the way you want to work, and ease of keeping up to date and upgrading. That is why I have chosen Debian.
The main applications required are email and word.
You use Gmail, your browser is sufficient for email. There is considerable choice for local email clients, you need to find which fits the way you want to work. Remember that your way of working will vary from anyone else, you will need to learn how to make effective use of any email client. As to Word, it does not run on Linux, but there is a better alternative to Microsoft Office, LibreOffice. Remember that Word is widespread, but it is not necessarily popular, and it is certainly not universal. If you want to work with portable documents, LibreOffice is a good way, but you need to convince those still with Word to either make the default document file format something in common, such as PDF for just one example, or better still move to LibreOffice, it is available for Linux, Mac and Windows.
Thanks in advance
Sincerely Rory Geoghegan
Stretch yourself, and take a serious look. Sticking with Microsoft is equivalent to choosing to be raped, several ways. Regards, Mark Trickett
On 18/02/18 20:53, Mark Trickett via luv-main wrote:
As to Word, it does not run on Linux, but there is a better alternative to Microsoft Office, LibreOffice. Remember that Word is widespread, but it is not necessarily popular, and it is certainly not universal. If you want to work with portable documents, LibreOffice is a good way, but you need to convince those still with Word to either make the default document file format something in common, such as PDF for just one example, or better still move to LibreOffice, it is available for Linux, Mac and Windows.
Word is proprietary pox and like pox, it has infected many ;-) But it can run on Linux, either with CrossOver or even in a browser from M$. Obviously I would direct people to LibreOffice as much as possible, but some people remain wedded to Microsoft and no amount of convincing will change their mind. Cheers A.
Thanks everyone for the advice, @ Mark, I've got a process for him that we are soon to execute, the last thing I had to work out is which OS is the most suitable. I will mention Debian to him and see what he says. @Andrew, he's happy to use libre but apparently there's just times when word is the only option @Russell would you also suggest Debian meets those requirements you listed? Thanks again. Sincerely Rory Geoghegan On 18 Feb. 2018 20:53, "Mark Trickett via luv-main" <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Hello Rory,
On 2/18/18, Rory Geoghegan via luv-main <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Hey everybody, I have a friend who's having done security issues. I'm looking for an OS which is both super secure and didn't require high level skills to use.
Security is a process, not a product. Unskilled is inherently not secure. The less services and such that you run, and the more you tie them to local only use, the less vulnerable you are.
I was thinking qubez at first but after trying it out it requires quite a high level of skill to use.
Look at which distribution suits the way you want to work, and ease of keeping up to date and upgrading. That is why I have chosen Debian.
The main applications required are email and word.
You use Gmail, your browser is sufficient for email. There is considerable choice for local email clients, you need to find which fits the way you want to work. Remember that your way of working will vary from anyone else, you will need to learn how to make effective use of any email client.
As to Word, it does not run on Linux, but there is a better alternative to Microsoft Office, LibreOffice. Remember that Word is widespread, but it is not necessarily popular, and it is certainly not universal. If you want to work with portable documents, LibreOffice is a good way, but you need to convince those still with Word to either make the default document file format something in common, such as PDF for just one example, or better still move to LibreOffice, it is available for Linux, Mac and Windows.
Thanks in advance
Sincerely Rory Geoghegan
Stretch yourself, and take a serious look. Sticking with Microsoft is equivalent to choosing to be raped, several ways.
Regards,
Mark Trickett _______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list luv-main@luv.asn.au https://lists.luv.asn.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/luv-main
Hello rory, On 2/18/18, Rory Geoghegan via luv-main <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Thanks everyone for the advice,
@ Mark, I've got a process for him that we are soon to execute, the last thing I had to work out is which OS is the most suitable. I will mention Debian to him and see what he says.
All computers need a system administrator. You and he need to both learn. It is a bit like a toaster, fail to clean and the crumbs get mouldy, a health risk, and the prospect of starting a fire. Too many expect to just turn on the toaster and not clean now and then, and treat the computer the same. They do not deserve even the technology of the stone age.
@Andrew, he's happy to use libre but apparently there's just times when word is the only option
If Word is the only option, then the option is poorly stated or needs to be discarded. Word is a problem with no solution, except the demise of Microsoft.
@Russell would you also suggest Debian meets those requirements you listed?
Russell is a Debian developer, at least at times. As to your needs, look at the various distributions, but remember to scratch under the surface. The desktop matters, whether Gnome, KDE, Mate, Mint or other lightweight option. Then remember that most will support most applications, and can be given a different theme and background for the eye candy. Look to the functionality first, that is what you and he have to live with. As to whether the Debian package management, or the Red Hat derived ones, you need to find what works your way. The reason I go for Debian and such is the package management tools, especially the handling of dependencies. This is less of an issue with the higher level package management front ends for Red Hat based systems, but it is built into the base level and fully available with the Debian package management tools. Do be aware that there are other package management means, from Gentoo using source based and compiling everything, to the way Slackware uses tarballs, tape archives, a collection of concatenated files, usually also compressed, and a small amount of extra detail, but not to the levels of the RPM or DEB packages. The big advantage of Linux is the diversity and choices, so that you can make it work the way you want. The downside is that you do have to be engaged, but that has big benefits as time goes on.
Thanks again.
Sincerely Rory Geoghegan
Regards, Mark Trickett
consider containerising whatever work load you intend to secure... On 19 February 2018 at 20:36, Mark Trickett via luv-main < luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Hello rory,
On 2/18/18, Rory Geoghegan via luv-main <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Thanks everyone for the advice,
@ Mark, I've got a process for him that we are soon to execute, the last thing I had to work out is which OS is the most suitable. I will mention Debian to him and see what he says.
All computers need a system administrator. You and he need to both learn. It is a bit like a toaster, fail to clean and the crumbs get mouldy, a health risk, and the prospect of starting a fire. Too many expect to just turn on the toaster and not clean now and then, and treat the computer the same. They do not deserve even the technology of the stone age.
@Andrew, he's happy to use libre but apparently there's just times when word is the only option
If Word is the only option, then the option is poorly stated or needs to be discarded. Word is a problem with no solution, except the demise of Microsoft.
@Russell would you also suggest Debian meets those requirements you listed?
Russell is a Debian developer, at least at times. As to your needs, look at the various distributions, but remember to scratch under the surface. The desktop matters, whether Gnome, KDE, Mate, Mint or other lightweight option. Then remember that most will support most applications, and can be given a different theme and background for the eye candy. Look to the functionality first, that is what you and he have to live with.
As to whether the Debian package management, or the Red Hat derived ones, you need to find what works your way. The reason I go for Debian and such is the package management tools, especially the handling of dependencies. This is less of an issue with the higher level package management front ends for Red Hat based systems, but it is built into the base level and fully available with the Debian package management tools.
Do be aware that there are other package management means, from Gentoo using source based and compiling everything, to the way Slackware uses tarballs, tape archives, a collection of concatenated files, usually also compressed, and a small amount of extra detail, but not to the levels of the RPM or DEB packages.
The big advantage of Linux is the diversity and choices, so that you can make it work the way you want. The downside is that you do have to be engaged, but that has big benefits as time goes on.
Thanks again.
Sincerely Rory Geoghegan
Regards,
Mark Trickett _______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list luv-main@luv.asn.au https://lists.luv.asn.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/luv-main
-- Dr Paul van den Bergen
Thanks Mark for the great break down. Much appreciated. Thanks to everyone else for the great amount of material to think about. Cheers. Sincerely Rory Geoghegan On 19 Feb. 2018 20:36, "Mark Trickett via luv-main" <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Hello rory,
On 2/18/18, Rory Geoghegan via luv-main <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Thanks everyone for the advice,
@ Mark, I've got a process for him that we are soon to execute, the last thing I had to work out is which OS is the most suitable. I will mention Debian to him and see what he says.
All computers need a system administrator. You and he need to both learn. It is a bit like a toaster, fail to clean and the crumbs get mouldy, a health risk, and the prospect of starting a fire. Too many expect to just turn on the toaster and not clean now and then, and treat the computer the same. They do not deserve even the technology of the stone age.
@Andrew, he's happy to use libre but apparently there's just times when word is the only option
If Word is the only option, then the option is poorly stated or needs to be discarded. Word is a problem with no solution, except the demise of Microsoft.
@Russell would you also suggest Debian meets those requirements you listed?
Russell is a Debian developer, at least at times. As to your needs, look at the various distributions, but remember to scratch under the surface. The desktop matters, whether Gnome, KDE, Mate, Mint or other lightweight option. Then remember that most will support most applications, and can be given a different theme and background for the eye candy. Look to the functionality first, that is what you and he have to live with.
As to whether the Debian package management, or the Red Hat derived ones, you need to find what works your way. The reason I go for Debian and such is the package management tools, especially the handling of dependencies. This is less of an issue with the higher level package management front ends for Red Hat based systems, but it is built into the base level and fully available with the Debian package management tools.
Do be aware that there are other package management means, from Gentoo using source based and compiling everything, to the way Slackware uses tarballs, tape archives, a collection of concatenated files, usually also compressed, and a small amount of extra detail, but not to the levels of the RPM or DEB packages.
The big advantage of Linux is the diversity and choices, so that you can make it work the way you want. The downside is that you do have to be engaged, but that has big benefits as time goes on.
Thanks again.
Sincerely Rory Geoghegan
Regards,
Mark Trickett _______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list luv-main@luv.asn.au https://lists.luv.asn.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/luv-main
On Monday, 19 February 2018 8:36:04 PM AEDT Mark Trickett via luv-main wrote:
All computers need a system administrator. You and he need to both learn. It is a bit like a toaster, fail to clean and the crumbs get mouldy, a health risk, and the prospect of starting a fire. Too many expect to just turn on the toaster and not clean now and then, and treat the computer the same. They do not deserve even the technology of the stone age.
Hmm, I don't think I've ever cleaned a toaster. :-# A friend once had a bad smell when he used his toaster and found a burning mouse inside it.
@Andrew, he's happy to use libre but apparently there's just times when word is the only option
If Word is the only option, then the option is poorly stated or needs to be discarded. Word is a problem with no solution, except the demise of Microsoft.
There is Wine to run Windows apps, but Word tends to use all the latest features and might be difficult to run on Wine. There are a variety of VM technologies to run a Windows VM. I personally prefer KVM.
@Russell would you also suggest Debian meets those requirements you listed?
Russell is a Debian developer, at least at times. As to your needs,
Yes, so I might be biased. But I chose to develop Debian because it worked better and haven't seen evidence to the contrary.
look at the various distributions, but remember to scratch under the surface. The desktop matters, whether Gnome, KDE, Mate, Mint or other lightweight option. Then remember that most will support most applications, and can be given a different theme and background for the eye candy. Look to the functionality first, that is what you and he have to live with.
KDE works well for me. GNOME worked OK last time I tried it but as I use Kmail for my email it made sense to go KDE al the way. One thing that seems to be missing is a light weight window manager with functionality like Windows 3.1. It would be nice if there was something that ran on systems with 128M of RAM (which incidentally ran KDE quite nicely in 1999) and had a nicer UI than twm.
As to whether the Debian package management, or the Red Hat derived ones, you need to find what works your way. The reason I go for Debian and such is the package management tools, especially the handling of dependencies. This is less of an issue with the higher level package management front ends for Red Hat based systems, but it is built into the base level and fully available with the Debian package management tools.
Also Debian has packages for almost everything you can imagine. Fedora has much less support for various packages and RHEL has even less.
Do be aware that there are other package management means, from Gentoo using source based and compiling everything, to the way Slackware uses tarballs, tape archives, a collection of concatenated files, usually also compressed, and a small amount of extra detail, but not to the levels of the RPM or DEB packages.
In most cases recommending Gentoo or Slackware is a bad idea. If you need to ask which distribution to use then Gentoo and Slackware aren't suitable for you. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
Hello Russell, On 2/20/18, Russell Coker via luv-main <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
On Monday, 19 February 2018 8:36:04 PM AEDT Mark Trickett via luv-main wrote:
All computers need a system administrator. You and he need to both learn. It is a bit like a toaster, fail to clean and the crumbs get mouldy, a health risk, and the prospect of starting a fire. Too many expect to just turn on the toaster and not clean now and then, and treat the computer the same. They do not deserve even the technology of the stone age.
Hmm, I don't think I've ever cleaned a toaster. :-#
There are those who use for a year, then replace, and continue to overfill the landfills. A good toaster, looked after, should last. Properly built and cared for, with repairs, maybe somewhere upside of half a century. it is a matter of everyone being responsible. The same with computers, responsible choice of software and services, and not being Stef from Userfriendly who ill click on every link, deliberately.
As to whether the Debian package management, or the Red Hat derived ones, you need to find what works your way. The reason I go for Debian and such is the package management tools, especially the handling of dependencies. This is less of an issue with the higher level package management front ends for Red Hat based systems, but it is built into the base level and fully available with the Debian package management tools.
Also Debian has packages for almost everything you can imagine. Fedora has much less support for various packages and RHEL has even less.
Do be aware that there are other package management means, from Gentoo using source based and compiling everything, to the way Slackware uses tarballs, tape archives, a collection of concatenated files, usually also compressed, and a small amount of extra detail, but not to the levels of the RPM or DEB packages.
In most cases recommending Gentoo or Slackware is a bad idea. If you need to ask which distribution to use then Gentoo and Slackware aren't suitable for you.
Mentioned more for moving towards completeness. If you notice, I did express that the alternatives have limitations, but that some people see merit in that way of doing things. Regards, Mark Trickett
On Sunday, 18 February 2018 4:07:30 PM AEDT Rory Geoghegan via luv-main wrote:
Hey everybody, I have a friend who's having done security issues. I'm
What security issues are they having? Not all issues are solvable through technology.
looking for an OS which is both super secure and didn't require high level skills to use.
As Mark noted that is a difficult pair of requirements.
The main applications required are email and word.
So you probably want a well supported Linux distribution that includes Libre Office and a suitable email client. You want the email client to be reasonably secure and you don't want to open documents from untrusted sources. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
participants (6)
-
Andrew McGlashan -
Mark Trickett -
Paul van den Bergen -
Rohan McLeod -
Rory Geoghegan -
Russell Coker