Free Pr0n - Making The Switch To Linux

Prologue □

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It is 2008, Desktop computers have been prevalent for over 20 years. Promises have been made by many, and upheld by few. ◊ ◊

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Computers making our lives simpler, easier... Solutions would be readily available to everyone, not just those with money... a computer for every home

All pr0n would be free

Making the switch to Linux

Saying goodbye to Microsoft My personal experiences Jim Noble

Farewell Redmond I wish thee well

...and by "well" I mean Malebolge, the 8th circle of Hell.

Who am I? □

dc0de - aka Jim Noble ([email protected])

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First computer in 1977 - TRS-80 Model I

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With my older brother, started the first BBS in Connecticut Have worked with IBM 4341, Novell 2 - 4.11, DOS, Windows 3.1 -> Present, HPUX, and have been, up until 2007, primarily a windows user, booting Windows, with a Linux Partition. More certifications than I care to share... I am by no means a Linux "Expert". I have now switched over to Linux as my primary OS. I'm still learning.

Why now? □

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I'm tired. I've been doing this for some time now... I'm Tired of: ◊

Vista and Microsoft's continual $$Update$$ cycle

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of the OS crashing

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application crashes eating the stability of the OS... of too many client applications hogging memory, cpu, disk, ...you name it. of paying for software. Really tired of paying...

Why Linux? □

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I've looked at MAC's, and they are cute. But you still have to pay. And you pay more. and more often. It's not that I can't afford it, I don't want to pay anymore. For you Apple fanboys, great, I'm glad you love your gear, for the money you spent, you better love it. Windows? it's been a long hard road. It's kept me employed for over 15 years. And it will keep me employed for many years to come. I just won't use it at home, or as my primary OS on my equipment. I like OpenSource, and I'm a GNU Convert - Free as in Freedom, Free as in Beer

How I began... □

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I've been playing with linux for many years ◊

Debian

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Redhat/Fedora

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Mandrake/Mandriva

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Lindows/Linspire

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and many others...

Of course all of the boot ISO linux toolsets, ◊

Backtrack

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Knoppix

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and others...

My goals □

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Use the existing email systems – Exchange based Fall back to Office if needed – VMWare server No data loss Have a better testing/attack platform – metasploit, nessus, nmap, etc... Not have to pay for Software

Selecting my distro... □

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I wanted a Debian based distro I'm partial to Advanced Package Tool (APT) (blame MaxieZ) I wanted to have a place to play with security tools and have access to a solid command line I didn't just want a desktop, I wanted a workstation. I like Debian, and Ubuntu, and chose to go Ubuntu ◊

It's the #1 distribution according to distrowatch* *http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Before installing... □

Backup

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Backup again

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Contemplate a 2nd hard drive, in the event you need to switch back for business reasons I simply used Symantec's BackupExec System Recovery Software to create an image of my XP workstation. It's like Ghost, while the OS runs.

My hardware □

Lenovo ThinkPad T61

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Bluetooth

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Type 7664-16U

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Modem

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T7300(2GHz)

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1Gb Ethernet

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4GB RAM

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UltraNav

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120GB 5400rpm HD

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Secure chip

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14.1in 1440x900 LCD

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Fingerprint reader

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Intel Turbo Memory

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6c Li-Ion

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WinVista Business

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128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M CDRW/DVDRW Intel 802.11agn

Installing Ubuntu □

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The installation of Ubuntu was very easy. Every peripheral worked out of the box, except for the advanced graphics and the fingerprint reader. For the Graphics, I'm using the NVidia Linux driver available by installing linux-restricted-modules-generic For the Fingerprint reader, I'm using ThinkFinger (http://thinkfinger.sourceforge.net)

Replacing Microsoft Office □

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At work, we use Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 * All file formats are in 2000/2003 for compatibility with our customers

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* Exchange / Outlook is used for our Email systems

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* We use Visio 2003/2007 for diagrams

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I've moved to Open Office - No loss in fidelity

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For diagrams, I've installed Crossover Office, and Microsoft Office 2003, Visio 2003, and I've signed up for an account on Gliffy.com

Gliffy.com – online drag & drop drawing □

As a 10 year user of Visio, I've switched to Gliffy.com

Email □

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Started with Evolution & the exchange components the exchange connector is unstable, and switched to IMAP

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IMAP is solid but it took a little tweaking

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Still deciding between Thunderbird and Evolution

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I like the calendar support in Evolution, but the speed of Thunderbird is enticing Thanks to Scott Dodson, I have Evolution working like a champ.

My costs Ubuntu 7.10 $ 0.00 OpenOffice 2.3 $ 0.00 Gliffy – 2yrs $ 45.00 CrossOver Pro $ 69.95 ------- ---------Total $114.95

Comparative Costs MS Vista Business $139.99 MS Office 2007 Pro $399.99 MS Visio 2007 Pro $419.99 --------- ---------Total $959.97*

*system instability no extra charge

The Verdict □

I'm happy. – I met all of my goals (within reason) – I'm not paying microsoft for software – The Operating system and OpenSource software work better than anticipated and better than "commercially licensed" software – I never fell for the Apple/MAC diatribe

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I'm pissed. – I didn't do this sooner. – I didn't listen to many of my friends, sooner. – I've wasted thousands of dollars of my own money on software

Last minute details □

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I've recently switched to the x86_64 version of Ubuntu on my laptop I'm fairly happy, I have all 4GB of RAM, and it runs faster Problems with Java, IcedTea, Macromedia Flash, and other plug-ins for the browser still cause me some issue it's faster, faster, better...

Epilogue □

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This entire presentation was created in Open Office all porn should be free.

To ask me questions or find out more, email me @ [email protected]