Good evening, everyone. I'm the complete newbie who thought it would be a good idea to start off with Linux right out of the gate. As soon as I figure out what the power button does.

Okay, I'm not quite that bad, but close, so any technical jargon will fly right over me.

Here's my predicamant: I'm trying to install a new, more up-to-date OS. My current system is Red Hat 9. I'm trying to install Ubuntu 6.06.1, which I have downloaded but not installed.

I tried to use the rpm command to install it. Here's the problem: it wasn't an RPM file. So what do I do now-my otherwise excellent manual doesn't cover this predicament.

Moreoever, there was some indication that the Ubuntu was supposed to be downloaded to CD first. I don't even know how to do that, but I did read in a source (other than the download website) that installing to the hard drive would spare me the woes of CD insertion. Hence my failed attempt to do that with the download.

In a nutshell, is it possible to intall this on my puter, or does it need to be an RPM file? Do I need to use CDs for this install? If so, how do I accomplish that? How do I get it to my hard drive after that, and is it advisable to do so?

Also, when I tried to install Fedora 1 from CDs, the request for me to insert disk two produced a response to the effect that it was unable to mount my CD. I clicked "okay," after which I was prompted again to insert CD 2, which was already in the CD drive. The circle continued a few times and I didn't see an abort button, so I did the unthinkable and turned off the power. And Fedora 1 is so old anyhow, but I was just dinking around, trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of something, anything more up-to-date than RH9.

Thank you much for your wisdom and insight.
Best Regards,
Whitestar

Insert your Ubuntu 6.06 CD to your boot CD drive (or you may need to some BIOS setup to boot from your CD drive). It will start the system with Ubuntu 6.06. At this moment the system is not installed to your hard drive. If you plan to install it, please find the Install icon on your desktop. Double click it and follow the on screen procedure to complete the set up.

Well, the problem is, it isn't on a cd yet. The download indicated it was intended for a cd, but it was just a download from the computer-I don't actually have a cd.

go to the ubuntu website & register after that click on the ship free cds. They will send to you, no need to download. that's how i got my Ubuntu cd.

I don't know whether you have a cd writer or not. As you already have downloaded the image file, if you have a cd-writer, you please burn the image.

On the other hand, you may write for a free cd (This suggestion already given to you.)

OR

You may contact at your local LUG and can collect a cd from there.

Thank you all for your excellent help. I've taken your suggestions, and my new Ubuntu CD is on it's way! I don't have a CD writer on this puter, so I ordered a CD until I upgrade this puter. Question: what do I do once I get the New OS, to harden it up or whatever. Something that will give the persistent hacker the ol'

Any ideas?

Thank you for concluding yourself to go with Ubuntu. I like the system very much. It provides me the freedom, and I really enjoy it.

Your question is not clear to me. If you please enlighten your question in detail.

Hi, Anindyanuri. Thank you for your reply. I'm glad to hear it's a good system! I'm upgrading because I've had problems with a hacker, so I'm just wondering how I can get the best security from the new system once it's installed. I guess the hacker got in through some vulnerable port on my old system, but I've heard that there are ways of configuring new operating systems to tighten them up so it's harder to get in, but I'm not sure how to do that. Right now I have a firewall, but it doesn't seem to be helping much. I know keeping SSH off is good unless I absolutely need it, which I won't because I'm not running a server. But I don't know what else to do.

I'll first protest against your post, the group, which you have mentioned as hacker are not really called hackers. The unwanted people who peep in your system or steal data from your system using internet are called the crackers, not the hackers. Instead, we the people love the hackers. Basically, hackers are those who modify programs according to the need. They do not do any illegal work. Hope I could able to clear the basic difference between the hackers and crackers. You will come to know more about the fact as long as you will be with us. Please go through this carefully

Though some ambiguity also lies with black hat hackers who does illegal works too and white hat hackers (whom I mentioned as hackers as above paragraph).
You may read more to know more about hackers

Anyway, to protect your computer from crackers, I think Linux is the best way you have choosen so far. I'll request you to read documents on `iptables'. iptables gives you the best security. Most of the readymade software firewalls are based on iptables (I am talking about linux only). Using iptables, you can design your own firewall too, but you need some study over the subject.

You may start your lession from here

A good tutorial on iptables can also be find here

You can always refer more web sites, books, etc. to master the subject. Just search and enjoy.

The thing that's rather throwing me, Whitestar, is that you seem to be "burning down the barn to keep the goats from stealing your corn." And, well, (please take this "nicely!") I'm just not sure that you exactly knew what you were doing when you "up and did" what you just did.

RedHat is one distribution of Linux, which uses its own way of doing things (RPMs and so-on). Umbuntu is a completely separate distribution, from an entirely separate vendor, which does things more-or-less in a completely different way. So you are essentially "starting over." But you're starting-over in the sense that you are abruptly switching from raising chickens to raising cows.

And I still get this uncomfortable feeling that (again, nicely!!) you don't quite know that the entire contents of your barnyard is about to undergo a profound change .. when perhaps all that you needed to do "to keep the hackers out" was, you know, to close the gate.

Please, please understand, sir or madam, that I am not making a public joke at your expense!!

What I am saying is simply that it seems to me that yours is "a knee-jerk reaction." Not knowing quite what to do, you burned down the barn.

I'll continue in the next post.

To continue ... "How do you secure a <RedHat or Umbuntu> Linux system?"

Well, the first thing you need to do is to learn a whole lot more about Linux. And once again, I am not trying to make any sort of public fun at your expense: rather, I'm saying that if you do not well-understand the system that you run, you create for yourself a vulnerability that other more-informed hackers on the Internet can, and certainly will, exploit.

First, if your Internet connection is not behind a router, go to the store and buy one and plug it in between your router and anything-else. Read just enough about its "firewall" to learn how to turn that firewall on, using the default settings.

Whew! Now, you are a whole lot more protected than you used to be. Trust me.

A "firewall" is a filter on the incoming and outgoing connections. Imagine "Mrs. Peach," the somewhat crotchety but very efficient switchboard-operator that every business in the world used to have. We never imagined what a service Mrs. Peach did for us, but one of the reasons why she was so crotchety must have been that she filtered-out all those calls that we never received. "Calls" from the Internet that have no business reaching the "inside" of your network... don't.

The next most-important step that you need to check is services, or what Linux calls daemons. These are programs that run on your system all the time, to perform useful tasks for you like running the printer. Default Linux installs tend to put up every service imaginable... turn all of them off except the ones you need.

The third most-important step is to make sure that you are using reasonable security: that you are not running as the root user, that you do have reasonable login passwords, and that you do not have any accounts on your system that you do not actually use or need.

Lots of people imagine that computers are horribly-mysterious things that run only under special rules defined by the inhabitants of the Galaxy Andromeda, but that's not the case. They're just machines... they sit on your desk and hum. They are creatures of rules, fast as lightning but dumb as toast. Trouble is, if you approach such a machine not knowing what the ground-rules are, you're a babe in the woods.

(Not dumb, not stupid, not ignorant... just, for the moment at least, inadequately informed.)

Make it your business (start right here!) to discover more about what vulnerabilities hackers commonly exploit. Plug those holes. Magically, 99.9% of the exploit-problem will vanish at a stroke. (Ooh, bummer! This one's front-door is actually locked! Next!")

Thank you both for your replies. Anindyanuri, thank you for clearing up the difference between crackers, hackers, white hats and black hats, and for all the info you gave me. I'm also looking forward to studying up on iptables. I appreciate your help.

Sundial, thank you for your posts-I liked your barnyard illustrations-they made me smile! And you explained everything in a way that's easy to understand. I do have a router, but I didn't know the firewall had to be enabled. I will give the manual a look-see and make sure the firewall is on.

I do have the firewall on the OS enabled, and as per your suggestion I pared down the packages to only what I need. Now I only use root when administering commands that require it. So far so good in that department.

So where is the little stinker still getting through. Maybe it's like you say, and the router firewall isn't enabled. That's the next thing I'm checking.

BTW, If you aren't a teacher already, you'd make a great one.