Which version

[robingal05]

Hi,

I have no doubt this question has been asked before, so please forgive me for asking again.

After years and years of Windows crashes, freezing and security issues, I have had enough!  I only use my computer for banking, online shopping, web browsing, family history research, e-mailing and the usual storage of photos and documents etc.  I have decided to move lock, stock and barrel to Linux.  The question is, which version should I opt for, any ideas welcome.  I have read a few online articles and a favourite seems to be Mint, but I am open to ideas.

Robin

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Hi robingal05, and welcome to the forum

Can you tell us how recent your hardware is, or if it is limited in some way (RAM/CPU) ?

Linux Mint is a VERY good choice .. but if your hardware is limited (or you want raw speed), Peppermint 3 may be a better fit.

Oh, and can I ask who you bank with .. as Nationwide used to have a policy that suggested they only covered Windows and Mac users against online fraud, even though Linux is widely accepted to be the most secure OS.

[robingal05]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for responding.

My old computer was ten years old, but I have just bought a new desktop with 2TB hard drive, 16GB RAM and 3GHz quad core processor, it came with just a trial version of Windows 7, which I was hoping to ditch altogether. I hope that helps.

Robin.

[robingal05]

 Mark, just saw the bit about banking, I bank at Nationwide. Robin.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Well if I were you i'd read the "What we don't support" section here:
http://www.nationwide.co.uk/internetbanking/helpandsupport/browserhelp.htm#tab3

What we don't support

1.    Any Beta versions of browsers
2.    Any browsers running on any Linux distribution (e.g. Konqueror/KDE, Firefox/Ubuntu)
3.    Camino, Omniweb or Shiira on Mac OS X

and section 2 of their "digital banking promise" here:

digital banking promise

If you lose money as a result of fraud through our online or mobile banking service, we’ll put the money back in your account immediately. This means that you won’t lose a penny if we find that you have been the victim of fraud.

Paul Cooper, Head of Online Banking

If you lose money as a result of fraud through our online or mobile banking service, we’ll put the money back in your account immediately providing that:

1.    You have not given to someone else your memorable data or passnumber that you use to access our online or mobile banking services
2.    You have complied with the security data obligations contained within our online and mobile banking terms and conditions
3.    You have provided correct payment instructions
4.    You did not authorise the transaction
5.    The fraud has not occurred as a result of you using an account aggregation service that consolidates information from each of your financial accounts into one place such as a single website.

The problem is that they've slightly reworded it since I last looked, and I cannot find their "online and mobile banking terms and conditions" on the Nationwide website, it may be that they NOW only mean they can't give "support" for Linux, but it also might mean you're not covered if you use Linux .. so I'd check with them first.

IMHO Nationwide are insane .. they don't even stipulate the need for anti-virus or anti-malware software in Windows/Internet Explorer, yet they appear to "not support" the most secure OS out there .. crazy eh ?

[robingal05]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for all the info.  I will go through it and also have a word with Nationwide.

Cheers

Robin.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

You're most welcome

I'm not normally one for putting people off Linux, but I'd hate to advise it if it put your fraud cover at risk .. the other banks don't seem to have a problem, but Nationwide's "promise" used to specifically say "as long as you're using a supported browser" .. as I said they now seem to have changed the wording slightly, so I'm not 100% sure .. best to ask.

Can you let us know what their response is, so I can better advise/warn others in the future .. thanks in advance

[robingal05]

Hi Mark,

I have e-mailed Nationwide and will let you know their response.

Robin

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Thanks Robin

[robingal05]

Hi Mark,

Nationwide do NOT cover you for fraud if you use Linux, here are their replies.

Morning Robin,
Thank you for your message.

You may be able to use Linux to access internet banking.  However, if you experience difficulties we are unable to offer support.  There are so many different configurations of Linux available that we are unable to offer support for our customers who choose to use this operating system.

And:

Dear Mr Galloway,


Thank you for your message.

I'm sorry to hear that my colleagues response has not answered your queries.

 I confirm that if you access the Internet Bank with an operating system that we don't support, you will not be covered by our Internet Bank Promise.

 I have included details regarding this below, which you may find useful:

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/internetbanking/onlinesecurity/howwekeepyousafe/ourpromise.htm

Like you I think thay're 'insane'.

Cheers,

Robin.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Yup, Linux is the OS of choice for the London Stock Exchange and many other financial institutions .. I wouldn't even be surprised if nationwide use it on their servers.

I'd understand them saying they cannot offer "support" (though the networking side of Linux is pretty standard across distro's), but to say it's not covered by their fraud protection scheme is ridiculous .. more so when they don't even stipulate that a Windows PC has to have AV or a firewall etc.

Thanks for letting us know their response .. it will likely help future readers to make a more informed decision .. not necessarily to dump Linux, but hopefully to change bank