The journey of a thousand miles begins with three roguewares

General Discussion
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Hello everyone, I’m a new member of this forum and a new user of Linux. A couple of months ago I bought a Dell Inspiron 1018 netbook with Windows 7. Since then I have acquired 3 different roguewares. I managed to get rid of the first 2 using Norton Power Eraser. But after using NPE to remove the third, all the files in My Documents were destroyed. This may have been because of my irresponsible use of NPE but ultimately it was because Windows is so rubbish!
I recalled from some years back my computer science friend telling me about how Linux was so much more secure compared to Windows. He also told me that Linux was the proper OS to use if you wanted to really understand computers; the connoisseur choice as it were.
My work contract had ended, so I knew I would need to find something to occupy my time while I found another job. I decided I would learn about computers. I did some research on Google and found the following website:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html

I took on board the authors advice. I started using Ubuntu, Python and html. I also got my self a textbook on hardware. It’s not been easy though; I’m currently not understanding the chapter on how to make a hangman game in Python; why my website is not showing on the internet I do not know, despite having managed to use Fireftp to transfer my html to my host. I’m also not understanding why the subject of power supplies is so boring, despite the book saying it is so very important. Although I am quite proud that I managed to finally get the wireless card to work on Ubuntu today.

Overall the experience has been very enjoyable. There’s something very satisfying about overcoming a barrier to understanding. With that in mind I was wondering how you all started your own digital journeys…

P.S here are the links I used to get me started

Installing Ubuntu on a netbook
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick

Learning Python by making games
http://inventwithpython.com/

Beginner html tutorial

The hardware textbook
CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition

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Sorry I meant to put this topic in general discussion, not general help. I’m not looking help as such, although this text does sound somewhat like a cry for help haha.

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Speak, and thou shall be heard … Topic moved :wink:

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Similar journey, except the malware came in the middle, and MANY more than 3.

Condensed, and maybe slightly out of sequence version…

After having “played” with computers since shortly after leaving school, and having gone through all the models everyone remembers… BBC Micro, C64, ZX Spectrum, Atari 600XL, Atari 520ST, and then about every model of Amiga except for the A4000 (I was never rich enough, but always dreamed of one), I managed to “pretty much”, (though not completely) avoid PC’s (as in IBM clones) till Windows 95 came out.

Windows 95 changed everything… it was totally rubbish, but somehow managed to be the OS of (popular) choice as computing came out of the workplace and hobby arena, and driven by the internet exploded onto the home.

Suddenly there was money to be made building systems… they were still quite expensive and profit margins for branded PC’s were HUGE… you could build a system for less than half the price you could buy one for, and they were still bloody expensive :slight_smile:

Through building systems, and having to work with Windows… I was still a committed Amiganaut… I slowly became the local “go to guy” for PC and Windows problems… eventually building it into a business… moving… building the business again… moving… well you get the picture.

OK, Linux - I’d looked at Linux a couple of times around 1995-97(ish), when (though quite good as a hobby) it was a bloody pain to install/setup… eventually I forgot all about it and went back to looking after other peoples Windows PC’s and small networks… then one day whilst doing some work for a local business where the boss was a tight git and didn’t like the cost of a dedicated hardware firewall, I ended up taking a look around and came across “Smoothwall” (a Linux based software firewall)… still a pain to set up, but it brought Linux back to my attention, so I took another look at Linux on the desktop, decided it still wasn’t ready for prime time, and promptly forgot about it again.

After XP turned into Vista, and PC’s became semi reliable (OK ignore Vista), working with Windows pretty much became one long series of virus/malware removal… I was quickly loosing interest… what I’d originally liked about IT support was the fact that every problem was different… so I thought it was time to take another look at Linux… What a difference a few years had made, suddenly Linux was every bit as ready for prime time as Windows and thanks to it (unlike Windows) being developed from the ground up to be a networked OS it didn’t suffer from the total lack of security that had plagued Windows and turned it into such a bore to work with.

I gave up Windows completely… well, personally anyway… and considering there is no substitute for experience, yet Linux is pretty damn stable, I decided to help out on forums to quickly get access to issues I was unlikely to come across any other way.

Thanks to a Mad Penguin… here I am trying to help others, and loving it again :slight_smile:

OK, maybe not so condensed, but you did ask :wink:

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I loved my C64!, it was my first computer, I had no idea how to tinker with it, I mostly just waited 40 minutes for the games to load. Oh boy though! when they finally loaded it sure was sweet.

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It was the Amiga(s) that did it for me… everything before them was really a bit of a curiosity, and everything since has been an attempt to get back to that warm fuzzy place that only seems to exist in memories… fail :frowning:

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My first real play with computers was an Intel 486 back in 1994; I learnt a few things, but nothing really too technical. Ah the good old days of playing Doom within DOS…I did a computer maintenance course at my local college a few years later, which really helped to demystify things. Unfortunately I didn’t update over the years, so my knowledge became obsolete, but I’m determined to get back up to speed, on Linux this time.
Speaking of games, Vivi rocks by the way, but I’d say my favourite character is Cloud, boring I know. Although if I had to be a Final Fantasy character I would be Caith Sith, he was such a hustler haha