[SOLVED] Just successfully installed PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2010 and have some questions
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1.)So the first thing I did was go to www.xfce.org website and try to register with their forum and the last question was the following require question to answer. An I Quote :
What is the output of "date -u +%jXfce|sha256sum|sed 's/\W//g'"?>
And if you do not answer correctly it will not let you register with them does anyone know what they are asking for and why??
Well, forums want to prevent bots from creating accounts and ask a question which only human can answer. Execute the command (open a terminal, enter the command and press <Enter>) and copy the output. That is what they ask for.
Firewall and antivirus are not needed with Linux (at least until you know how to configure a firewall ).
For backups I'm using flexbackup together with anacron.
As swapspace with your 1Gb of Ram I'd recommend up to 1Gb of swap (although 256MB are enough), Linux does not swap as much as Windows, mostly it will not be needed, at least not with common tasks like office- or internetworking.
1.)So the first thing I did was go to www.xfce.org website and try to register with their forum and the last question was the following require question to answer. An I Quote :
What is the output of "date -u +%jXfce|sha256sum|sed 's/\W//g'"?>
And if you do not answer correctly it will not let you register with them does anyone know what they are asking for and why??
Probably to verify you are not a robot. they probably change the question randomly so a robot would not be able to answer.
They just don't want a program to register millions of accounts and crash their server. they only want humans to register.
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b)Firewall options
Linux-Firewall, Firestarter, Guarddog
All those programs are just front ends to the same program: iptables.
They do the exact same thing with a different GUI. Just pick the one you prefer.
If you need an Antivirus then it is already too late. None of these option will be efficient. If you are using PCLinuxOS, chances are that you don't need any Antivirus. What do you want to do with it? Are you planning to check a Windows install from PCLinuxOS? If you no longer have Windows you no longer need any Antivirus.
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d)Possible reliable systems tools
lynis to check setup, and
TestDisk, and Parchive for data recovery
There are literally hundreds of thousands of system tools. "System tool" is a software category containing many reliable software. Each one has a specific task.
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e)Running Windows and MS-DOS Programs
VirtualBox, Wine
Wine is an implementation of Windows that let you run Windows software. It does not emulate the hardware in order to run that software. It runs the software directly just like Windows. Some Windows software may not run correctly or at all with Wine. You should check the Application database to see if a specific software run and how good it runs. http://appdb.winehq.org/
VirtualBox is a virtual machine. It emulates the hardware of a computer. You can install Windows or any system inside a virtual machine emulated by VirtualBox. It is a computer inside your computer. You allocate a part of your hard drive and RAM to it. The performance of the OS may be affected by the emulation layer.
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3) What kind of setup is require to run Windows Games the require DirectX and OpenGL support in order to run??
You need Wine or A virtual machine with OpenGL support like the latest version of VirtualBox. They both have issues with some DirectX or OpenGL functions. Try Wine first then VirtualBox.
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4)Minor set-up issue :
When I installed xfce on my system the program locked me out from making any changes (except for the network, timezone, password etc.) during the installation. And it works fine but I find the program a bit draggy when opening and loading application such as the web browser, even typing this text is max'ing out my cpu. is this normal or does this have something to do with my installation setup, and if can it be tweeked to improve performance. My hard ware setup is
KT6V motherboard
AMD XP 2700
1 gig of DDR400
500 gig WD Sata
GeForce 7800 video
Dual network cards 10/100 running to a router 10/100 to Cabel modem ISP
No other software has been installed yet, and no upgrades so its just the hardware and PCLinuxOS Phoenix 2010 edition. Any suggestions before add another 500gig WD Sata, 100gig IDE WD and 250gig IDE WD to the mix.
Any suggestions would be helpful, adding more swap partions would they help?? I have lots of storage room available.
You have a faulty service running in the background. Please open a separate thread for this issue. this thread is already overcrowded with different questions and this specific issue may not be properly addressed here.
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5.) What are my best options with video capture card programs for transferring VSH to drive/editing and then burning to DVD.(Free)
There are several options. You can use luvcview for capture and K3B but burning.
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6.) What is the best options for audio capture programs for editing from record players/tapes to record as CD's and MP3 formats.(Free)
There is audacity for audio editing.
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7.) What is the best method for installing a program without going through Synaptic Package Manager?
Just use the synaptic Package Manager.
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8.) Is there systems manager to do list for regular system maintenance that I have to do or setup and schedule to keep the everything running as it should??
Do backup and update your system regularly.
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9.) I read that you can install PCLinuxOS KDE Desktop into Xfce, but what would happen to xfce setup?? does it lose it functionality in favor of the xfce?? if so, can i install them side by side on the same or different drives and log into them through the boot manager? I worried about end of life of a platform if kde is most popular then its the most supported right in PCLinuxOS versions I mean, so what happens when one is no longer supported???
You can install them side by side and log into KDE or Xfce at login screen. Don't worry about EOL. It is not likely and if that happens you will not loose data or anything. You will still have the option to switch if you want to. But really it is not likely to happen in the next 15 years or so.
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10.) how do restrict user profile access? Add nanny features to monitor and restrict younger systems surfing access if possible?? any literature available ??
has three parts which are piped into one another, the first part "date -u" gives the date in UTC, this is with "+%j" converted to the number of the day in the year.
This is piped to the sha256sum command which calculates the sha256sum (a check sum) of the string. this is piped to sed (stream editor) which reads and changes strings, in this case sed changes \W (non word characters) to nothing (it deletes every character wich is not a letter or a number.
Code:
markus@samsung:~$ date -u
Wed Dec 15 00:33:56 UTC 2010
markus@samsung:~$ date -u +%j
349
markus@samsung:~$ date -u +%jXfce
349Xfce
markus@samsung:~$ date -u +%jXfce|sha256sum
28f72103937c565bc414267c206d690ce08f23b48bc2991ebd86893c3997fd8f -
markus@samsung:~$ date -u +%jXfce|sha256sum|sed 's/\W//g'
28f72103937c565bc414267c206d690ce08f23b48bc2991ebd86893c3997fd8f
Linux cannot be infected by Windows-viruses. The problem is that if one has Linux- and Windowsmachines in a network that Linuxmachines can forward viruses to Windowsmachines. If you run a virtual Windowshost on the Linuxmachine, it will be more efficient to check the networktraffic on the Linux machine. Otherwise, no Windows no Problem.
A firewall is a firewall (independent of the OS)! it manages ports and networktraffic. You may as an exercise execute
Code:
nmap -sV xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP-adress of your Linuxcomputer. You can get the IP-adress with the
Code:
ifconfig
command.
nmap shows the open ports in the range up to 1000. You may do the same thing with a Windowscomputer .
I believe you should just leave the default firewall and not touch it until you have a very specific need that require touching the firewall.
Efficient firewalling requires good network and security knowledge, even with a dumbed down interface.
With PCLinuxOS, the biggest threat is yourself. The propability of being attacked by a virus from the outside is very very low, as in "won't happen". I'm running a machine with no firewall, Wifi is open to the neighbourhood and my password is "abcdef". I didn't have any attack in 10 years using this setup. You run a much bigger risk of destroying data yourself by executing the wrong command. So just backup your system regularly and you should be safe. Don't worry about the antivirus and firewall. Since you probably use a router, you already have a hardware firewall anyway.
If you really want to learn the firewall for a specific issue or if you are sunning a server, you should first learn to use iptables and then the GUI will make more sense.
First thank you for the quick replay and for try to answer my very lengthy posting. I found your responses extremely helpful and informative. I will also re-post my performance issue in the hardware section for additional help as suggested.
But I still have a few questions.
Agrouf, you stated to me, "if I needed anti-virus program it is already to late."
Now being a newbie, I would see that response as ...
"That my computer system has already been infected and their is not point of going any further with my installation process and I need to re zero my drives again?"
Or did you mean
Linux can not be affected at all by any virus out there???
If that the case, then why are there anti-virus programs are available for Linux systems such as avast free anti-virus and aegis-virus-scanner???
Not trying to be obtuse, but I really do not understand?
On the platform I just left, if you were on the net at all you were playing Russian Roulette with your system without a descent firewall and anti-virus program running on your system??
Now as I activated the firewall before going on the net
(and I am not surfing the net through the root through the root log in).
The Firewall looks like a very basic, with minimal list of options.
(I was hoping to see a little more detail or options similar to what I am used to, such as commercial products such as zone alarm)
Does the PCLinuxOS XFCE 2010 edition firewall work similar in functionality like the Windows XP Pro Firewall?
Meaning, it only allows you choose which program can use the network but not control what part of the program is allowed to communicated over the net. For example "double click" walks through the firewall without alerting the user in the standard firewall setup?
If a end-user wanted more control we needed to add another control program to help refine your firewall setup such as Linux-Firewall, Firestarter, Gaurddog or are they really redundant?
mh, using antivirus software with Linux is like wearing a motorcyclehelmet in your car.
Do not confuse typical Windowsproblems with the rest of the computerworld especially Linux.
using antivirus software with Linux is like wearing a motorcyclehelmet in your car
The visual of that statement gave me a good laugh!
tcd1971, I think you will find this thread enlightening. It is a link to a sticky post in another forum written by a very knowledgeable and helpful person that goes into great detail explaining the differences between Linux and Windows in terms meant for the new Linux user.
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Just successfully installed PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2010 and have some questions
). 
Dear Markush,
