Posted on 05/27/2015 4:52:27 PM PDT by sopwith
In 1983, when I started the free software movement, malware was so rare that each case was shocking and scandalous. Now it’s normal.
To be sure, I am not talking about viruses. Malware is the name for a program designed to mistreat its users. Viruses typically are malicious, but software products and software preinstalled in products can also be malicious – and often are, when not free/libre.
In 1983, the software field had become dominated by proprietary (ie nonfree) programs, and users were forbidden to change or redistribute them. I developed the GNU operating system, which is often called Linux, to escape and end that injustice. But proprietary developers in the 1980s still had some ethical standards: they sincerely tried to make programs serve their users, even while denying users control over how they would be served.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
You bet, you can give stuff away and still make bucks on other stuff. Like this piece of freeware right here.
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
Most know CCleaner. But if not I recommend the above for anyone who wants to clear the crud out of their computer, in a very simple straightforward manner.
I finally took my machine from XP to 7 about 6 weeks ago. The first day or so I wondered if I’d lost my bloody mind, even after a year and some of it on my gaming rig. Then I started realizing how many ways some of the smaller features like “pin to taskbar” or “pin to app” make things more pleasant, and I stopped missing XP right quick.
Thanks. It's an interesting program, that I will probably install eventually, when my AV program doesn't automatically delete it as a "Potentially Unwanted Application." I don't want to take the time to troubleshoot that now, but I will do so later.
there are others out there. You’re not locked into Adobe to deal with pdf files. search “pdf open source” and you’ll probably find something you like.
Would that The Won [Again}’s dad had had a Trojan.
Hmmm, you’d think the requirement being technically adept would screen out the fools, at least percentage-wise. I’m technically adept and not a fool.
I clearly presumed far too much on the part of the protagonist.
Likewise, I insist upon being paid for the goods and services I provide.
The problem with the reinstall from CD is that many times I have found that the CD has a lot of the bloat software as well.
1) go through the uninstall process and get rid of all of the junk
2) run a virus scan and remove any detected viruses (http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage)
3) run a malware scan and remove any detected (https://www.safer-networking.org/dl/)
4) run a registry cleaner (http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm)
5) defrag the hard drive (http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/)
6) take a snapshot of the remaining image (http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/backup.htm)
OR ....
1) Install Linux
That's what worked for me.
Well, even some Linux distros are becoming bloated.
Yeah, but you can almost always do a minimal installation if you want to.
Biggest problem I have right now with most Linux distributions is that it is getting darn near impossible to get away from systemd or other similar stupidity.
I really dislike the use of dnsmasq on some distros as well. I do DNS stuff for a living and it is a pain, because changing resolvers isn't just a matter of changing /etc/resolv.conf anymore.
I'm turning into the Linux equivalent of the "get off my lawn!" guy.
And that has what to do with freeware such as CCleaner?
Are you suggesting those who offer freeware are fraudulently extracting payment from you?
bkmk
They’re socialists, don’t you see? He said so and everything.
Yeah I know the feeling :-)
I started with Slackware back when the kernel was 0.9x and rolling my own.
I’ve been through Ubuntu, Red Hat, CentOS, Mint, etc and I keep coming back to wanting a stripped down Linux with just enough tools to do the sys admin tasks. I dont want a server that is an all in one. I dont want my DNS, NTP, email etc all on one server. I want separate VM instances for each IT service.
I’ve even been looking at Minux 3 micro kernal as a solution.
I guess I am getting old and crotchety.
I use VMs primarily as testbeds for various projects.
My primary workstation is Fedora 21. I keep flirting with the idea of changing distros, and it is getting more and more tempting as a lot of basic knowledge essentially becomes useless as they change the subsystems under me. I use KDE because I like KIOSlaves. (fish:// rocks!)
If Mint had Quanta+ available as a package, I’d probably go ahead and switch, but I use that program a lot to do HTML stuff because it is so highly customizable. I’ve tried some other tools for that, most recently Bluefish, but they don’t let me set up all the keybindings that I want. (I basically remap everything)
I do kinda like having a local webserver to serve my own content, and demo my website before I push it out. I’ve occasionally done that by running a VM, but found it to be more trouble than it was worth for just my own purposes.
Are you suggesting they create, promote and maintain product for nothing?
Sounds like I might decide to wait until the build after 10122.
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