Internet Explorer to access school's network
 

Hi,

Is there anyway in which it is posssible for me to use internet explorer in Linux?

I have 2 hard drives for my X201 Thinkpad; one Slackware, the other Windows 7... So i have been the in the ideal position to test this. Using Windows 7 i am unable to access the internet via my school using firefox but can using IE9, I am told that IE is the only browser supported. I have tried using my Slackware drive, with firefox, but am completely unable to connect at all. Wicd will connect to the network but i am even unable to access the login page at 1.1.1.1 let alone anyting beyond.

I strongly suspect that there will be little i can do but if anyone has any advice it would be listened to and greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

IE will run under WINE (or CrossOver). There is also something called "IE4Linux" (or something like that) (It is simply IE packaged with WINE)

I'd like to find the IT people at your school and slap them around a bit---but that's another story....;)

Change the firefox useragent to match IE9...

I myself, I use google Chromium with the IE-tab(Internet Explorer)-extension, and I combine it with with the Rndr-extension (for Microsoft-based Magister that uses Silverlight). This makes it possible to acces the network of my sons school. It works good,but is a bit slow.

Opera, I know, had a setting for 'which browser do you want me to pretend I am?'

Many school networks have draconian limitations to prevent porn coming in, and the like.

Tell your school director to fire his obviously incompetent admin. There is no place for Windows-only IT "specialists" in 2012.

I'm the admin of a local school network, so I know a bit about these "draconian limitations". Filtering is done here with a Slackware64 13.37 server/gateway/firewall/proxy, using Squid and SquidGuard. The latter is coupled to a nice database provided by the University of Toulouse, with a couple of million entries of "good" and "bad" in roughly 30 categories. The proxy is transparent, which means every HTTP request gets automagically translated (via iptables) to Squid's port 3128. Now every kid at school can use his or her laptop - running Windows XP, Vista, Seven, Mac OS X, Linux Debian, Ubuntu, whatever, connect to the free wireless access point and "safely" surf the web. I've even configured SquidGuard so Facebook, webmail services and Youtube remain accessible, but only outside official class hours.

This solution has been working perfectly for more than a year now, and is completely OS-agnostic for the users.

And I sense the only "draconian limitation" concerns your system administrator's competence.

Thank you, everyone.

I have now finished for the day... and week... but I will certainly look into some of these suggestions on Monday, up to and including slapping the admins around :)

I had already tried running the IE9 installer through wine but it returned an error stating that IE9 will only work on Windows7s and Vistas. Perhaps I maybe able to find IE9 as a complete downloadable package as the initial cursory search only found an installer that would download the program... maybe it would make a difference, maybe not I'm not sure.

Thank you once again.

The "IT industry" is awash with these muppets - as with any other industry there are pretenders and chancers who either bluff their way through their job or delegate a lot(i.e. get others to do their job for them - but take all the credit).

A lot of the best computing people are non academic, i.e. they are not the kind of people who can sit through boring parrot fashion lectures without thinking "WHY?!" and then completely switching off. I used to know someone who is utterly clueless about computing, yet managed to gain a Masters Degree in it - simply because they studied day and night, parrot fashion and were motivated 100% by the career prospects. These are the type of people who are going out into the industry flying by the seat of their pants and posing as "sysadmins", while the real skilled people are flipping burgers...

[ok it's not as black and white as all that and I exaggerated more than a little there...]

I doubt you'll run IE9 in wine... MS usually make very sure of that. Just change the useragent - there are firefox addons which make this simple.

Member Response
 

Hi,

A lot of times the IT in a small school district, it is the person most versed thus assigned the duties. Sometimes that person's competency is limited but better than his/her colleagues.

Some are well intentioned but misguided by school administrator(s) dictating what must be done, no questions.

Personally, I have sat through many meetings and at times have to bring things back to reality by translating technical terms to lay person's understanding of the terminology so there are no misunderstandings. Only to have a Dean or someone in administration to try an dictate what is too be done. I learned a long ago to patiently let things go then proceed at a later time to persuade outside of the meetings. That way there are no major battles or territorial issues. Let the administrators have their say but do what is needed in the background to save everyone's a$$. Yours included!
:hattip:

I would never install IE just to access a network. You can use user agent switchers in Firefox and Opera to fake IE. The best thing to do is inform the ITs of alternative browsers and that they should not restrict which browser you should use, especially to a very insecure browser like IE. Who uses IE anymore ? Only fools.

Between 2006 and 2008, my job here consisted in networking eleven public libraries in an area of roughly the surrounding fifty kilometers. Every library had at least one of these "specialists", e. g. the guy who knew how to find Windows XP's Configuration Panel icon and therefore found himself promoted system administrator.

Most of the guys I think I handled well, e. g. I explained to them that I would install them a no-hassle Linux network that JustWorks(tm), and if they wished, I even would let them take the local credit for it. Most of the guys complied, but I've also had my share of PITA advice. Like the guy who bluntly told me that "your Linux server is crap because there isn't even a graphical interface to it", or the guy who told me that "using Linux is dangerous since I couldn't even install Avast and ZoneAlarm on your machine", and so on.

Over the years, my patience with these clowns has completely worn off. I'm now managing my own enterprise, and when I have a new contract, one clause stipulates very clearly that no third-party system administrator has to interfere with my work. The last time I gave away the root password to an insisting and clueless Windows IT-specialist, it took him less than a week to lose several man-years of work by inadvertently flushing a database before backing up. Of course, the blame fell on me, and I lost this client.

Favourite quote from this admin, when asked about the IP range for the DHCP server. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't need your DHCP thing. When I setup Windows, you know, the network comes up all by itself. It's automatic."

Stop insulting muppets! :)

If you are the decision maker or asked to help: better to seek forgiveness rather than ask permission. ;)

"Thank you sir, may I have another" comes to mind.

Isn't the 1.1.1.0/24 block unassigned and reserved for network testing by APNIC?