The "Linux questions (and other stuff)" thread

[svim]

Just passing this along for those of you who want to harden and lock down your Linux install. Take a look into running this 'Lynis' security auditing utility. Checks for obvious and obscure settings on a number of things.
https://gbhackers.com/lynis-open-source-security-auditing-tool-a-detailed-explanation/

 

[lunatic59]

Reminds me a little of RKhunter. I use this on a couple of CentOS servers that had some suspicious activity.

 

[svim]

I also run rkhunter periodically, along with chkrootkit, a similar utility. But both focus more on known exploits that have already compromised a system. I find Lynis to be much more comprehensive, and with its focus being more on preventing exploits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chkrootkit

 

[MoodyBlues]

I haven't been here in forever and, frankly, I'm surprised it's not busy. With more and more people using Linux (and its offspring, Android, which brought them to AF), I'd expect lots of activity. Of course, there are now zillions of Linux-centric sites, so people have likely found their homes there.

Anyway, I'm still happily cranking along with my Linux-powered life:

- two laptops, both of which came with Linux pre-installed: an Acer Chromebook, whose cloud-centered Linux I replaced with Kubuntu, and installed all my favorite apps on its hard drive, and a System76 Kudu Pro, whose Ubuntu Unity(?) I also replaced with Kubuntu

- two 10+-year-old desktops still humming along on old versions of Kubuntu (one is ≈14 years old!), with no downtime but for the occasional power outage, and once when I replaced a dying hard drive

- a Kindle Fire HD 8.9", which I rooted

- two phones, a Moto X 2nd Generation, now used on wifi only, and my brand-spanking new Moto Z² Force Edition

- two DVRs

There are no window$ in my house...yet it's incredibly bright inside.

 

[Deleted User]

Nice thread resurrection My 8 year old Dell Vostro runs nicely with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. It's pretty much bullet proof, boots in seconds thanks to a SSD, and runs my Android development environment very nicely.

Strangely, the most unreliable thing lately tends to be Chrome, or its relative, Chromium. I don't know what they've done to it recently, but I've definitely noticed a deterioration, things like not being able to play embedded video, or sound problems, and odd crashing problems.

In addition I've got two Raspberry Pi devices, aiming to use these as media server/client (with Kodi running on the client).

Our household was Windows free for a while, but my daughter insisted on using Win 10 for her laptop.

 

[mikedt]

Nice thread resurrection My 8 year old Dell Vostro runs nicely with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. It's pretty much bullet proof, boots in seconds thanks to a SSD, and runs my Android development environment very nicely.

Strangely, the most unreliable thing lately tends to be Chrome, or its relative, Chromium. I don't know what they've done to it recently, but I've definitely noticed a deterioration, things like not being able to play embedded video, or sound problems, and odd crashing problems.

In addition I've got two Raspberry Pi devices, aiming to use these as media server/client (with Kodi running on the client).

Our household was Windows free for a while, but my daughter insisted on using Win 10 for her laptop.

I've been doing that for over a year now, a Raspberry Pi 3 running LibreELEC that has Kodi, and it works really well.
https://libreelec.tv/downloads/
LibreELEC is a lightweight ‘Just enough OS’ Linux distribution purpose-built for Kodi on current and popular mediacentre hardware

 

[lunatic59]

I've never been able to warm up to Ubuntu. Tried several times, but my preferred desktop is Mint Cinnamon. My servers run CentOS. Of course I also have a bunch of Windows machines and administer a windows network at work.

 

[bcrichster]

I've never been able to warm up to Ubuntu. Tried several times, but my preferred desktop is Mint Cinnamon. My servers run CentOS. Of course I also have a bunch of Windows machines and administer a windows network at work.

Mint Cinnamon is truly the best Linux conversion for those used to operating the Virus formally known as Windows, Lol. In jest I'd say 'shame on you for forcing such atrocious Windows software on your coworkers..' LMAO but I know that some ppl use it, want it, and get lost without seeing those error msgs pop up when they try to do something'out of the box' like installing 3rd party drivers.. Excuse my software slander but I'm over here rolling in self humor (puns/punny, truth.. both??).. Linux is seemingly the best even if not idiot proof. I stuck with Mint cuz Ubuntu's right edge menu bar was just too offsetting for me as well, coming from Windows OS and the green folders are a bit more pleasant than brown , IMpO... Mint 4 Life! Lol

 

[Deleted User]

I've never been able to warm up to Ubuntu. Tried several times, but my preferred desktop is Mint Cinnamon. My servers run CentOS. Of course I also have a bunch of Windows machines and administer a windows network at work.

Well it's down to personal preference isn't it? That's the great thing about having so many distros, you can pick the one which suits you. They do say that Mint/Cinamon is the nicest one to transition from Windows. And yeah, we all here know that Linux is much better than Windows, just got to convince the rest of the world, and hoards of corporate users to see the light. Never going to happen though is it?

 

[bcrichster]

Well it's down to personal preference isn't it? That's the great thing about having so many distros, you can pick the one which suits you. They do say that Mint/Cinamon is the nicest one to transition from Windows. And yeah, we all here know that Linux is much better than Windows, just got to convince the rest of the world, and hoards of corporate users to see the light. Never going to happen though is it?

:sniff-sniff: ..no. Lol.

 

[lunatic59]

We're all just betamax people in a VHS kinda world.

 

[Deleted User]

I've said it before though, some of Redmond's recent stuff is very good. I'm using VSCode on my Ubuntu system. Got to say, it's the dog's....

 

[lunatic59]

I'm not a h8ter of any OS, although Apple's OSX is probably my least favorite.

 

[Deleted User]

I'm not a h8ter of any OS, although Apple's OSX is probably my least favorite.

I'm not either Luna. What I want from my O/S is for it to manage things efficiently, and stay out of the way of my real work. If Windows did that, and wasn't such a resource hog, and didn't insist on rebooting at every opportunity, I'd like it more. I mean, what the hell is going on with all those reboots?!!
And I can't use Docker and VirtualBox at the same time because of some virtualisation feature that only one of them can use at any time? WTF?!!! Sort this out MS!!

 

[Deleted User]

Shall I tell you what setup we're using at work to do our development. I've got VirtualBox running Fedora, on top of Windows 10. In the VM, I've got Docker, and all my heavy duty dev tools running. To make all this work, and manage to get anything done during the day, I needed an upgraded machine with a quad core 8th gen i7 processor, and 16GB RAM. Anything lower power than this just runs dog slow.

Why not switch to using Linux natively? Because the corporate policy is Windows 10. Madness! But if they want to shell out £2k (per developer) for hardware, then fair enough.

 

[bcrichster]

Shall I tell you what setup we're using at work to do our development. I've got VirtualBox running Fedora, on top of Windows 10. In the VM, I've got Docker, and all my heavy duty dev tools running. To make all this work, and manage to get anything done during the day, I needed an upgraded machine with a quad core 8th gen i7 processor, and 16GB RAM. Anything lower power than this just runs dog slow.

Why not switch to using Linux natively? Because the corporate policy is Windows 10. Madness! But if they want to shell out £2k (per developer) for hardware, then fair enough.

Is dualboot an option?

 

[lunatic59]

Is dualboot an option?

If @LV426 's days are anything like mine, he's jumping from Linux to Windows and back during the course of his job. Having to reboot each time is a lot less productive. I dual boot my cheap Dell laptop because I almost never run windows on it.

 

[bcrichster]

If @LV426 's days are anything like mine, he's jumping from Linux to Windows and back during the course of his job. Having to reboot each time is a lot less productive. I dual boot my cheap Dell laptop because I almost never run windows on it.

Touché, good point..

 

[Deleted User]

Is dualboot an option?

I wish.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I've never been able to warm up to Ubuntu. Tried several times,

Really? I started with its 5.04 release and fell in love with it. Of course, I'm a KDE person, so I'm using Kubuntu. I just find it the most aesthetically pleasing, with beautiful, ultra-customizable desktops and features. Of course, I'm also an old...old *nix person, so its functionality under the hood is most important to me. I still do my REAL work at the command line. But anyway, yeah, I love Kubuntu--but that doesn't stop me from trying others occasionally just to see what's up.

but my preferred desktop is Mint Cinnamon. My servers run CentOS.

Offhand, I don't think I've tried either of those. I remember putting Bodhi (a very light distro) on an ancient laptop, and it resurrected it beautifully. I liked Fedora, but not enough to dump Kubuntu. Of course, there was Red Hat a million years ago, and Caldera, too. In fact, IIRC, I believe I replaced Coherent, a pre-Linux, UNIX clone with Caldera.

Of course I also have a bunch of Windows machines and administer a windows network at work.

Ugh...I did, too, at my last job. They were the bane of my existence!

 

[lunatic59]

Really? I started with its 5.04 release and fell in love with it. Of course, I'm a KDE person, so I'm using Kubuntu. I just find it the most aesthetically pleasing, with beautiful, ultra-customizable desktops and features. Of course, I'm also an old...old *nix person, so its functionality under the hood is most important to me. I still do my REAL work at the command line. But anyway, yeah, I love Kubuntu--but that doesn't stop me from trying others occasionally just to see what's up.

I was okay with Ubuntu right up until they started in with the Gnome 3.0 desktop. That's when they lost me and I haven't been back since. Of course I was a Red Hat guy back when before the desktop was Fedora. I even have the hat's to prove it.

(That pic is 10 years old. The beard is grayer and the hat is dingier, but I still have both )

Offhand, I don't think I've tried either of those. I remember putting Bodhi (a very light distro) on an ancient laptop, and it resurrected it beautifully. I liked Fedora, but not enough to dump Kubuntu. Of course, there was Red Hat a million years ago, and Caldera, too. In fact, IIRC, I believe I replaced Coherent, a pre-Linux, UNIX clone with Caldera.

I waffled between Fedora and Mint for a few years, but I think Fedora 10 went overboard with their security, at least for a desktop OS. Of course I still use CentOS for servers, which is basically REHL without the support.

Ugh...I did, too, at my last job. They were the bane of my existence!

Job security!

 

[MoodyBlues]

Mint Cinnamon is truly the best Linux conversion for those used to operating the Virus formally known as Windows, Lol.

Linux is seemingly the best even if not idiot proof. I stuck with Mint cuz Ubuntu's right edge menu bar was just too offsetting for me as well, coming from Windows OS and the green folders are a bit more pleasant than brown , IMpO... Mint 4 Life! Lol

One word: Kubuntu. There is not a single thing about its appearance you can't change to your liking. Just an example, my folders are a beautiful, dark glossy blue, from a theme I found online. Maybe I'll post some screenshots...later.

ETA: I remembered a long-ago post in Let's see your desktop! showing one of my computer's then-current desktop appearance. It doesn't show my beautiful folders, but it's a start!

 

[Deleted User]

No love for Unity then? Is that a dirty word?

 

[lunatic59]

No love for Unity then? Is that a dirty word?

 

[MoodyBlues]

No love for Unity then? Is that a dirty word?

When my System76 laptop arrived, that's what was installed. I had never been a GNOME fan, but thought perhaps Unity was a good improvement. Wrong! I used it for about two days, thoroughly exploring its settings, and said 'nope, not for me!' So on came Kubuntu with its beautiful, infinitely customizable interface, and I was home again.