Linux questions.

[Cryptic_Catalyst]

Talking to a couple friends about them switching over to Linux and getting away from Microsoft. So being a new user to Linux (Ubuntu) I might as well ask here and get some feedback on the different questions I received from them.


First question. What Linux OS is best for a TOTALLY new user to try and does it have a Live CD?.. They are not secure with switching because the feel its to much of a hassle. As they put it, "why should I do the work when others get paid to do it?" I know a little about Ubuntu and pointed out that it has a live cd and explained how to use it but they are still not convinced to switch over.

Second question. How secure can parents be with children playing on a Linux OS? OK this one I could not answer at all as I do not have any kids in the house :P. But i think it is a good question.

Third question. What kind of support can I get with Linux.
I basically told them that Support is community support and nothing like Microsoft support. Usually you get an answer in 10 minutes or less. Problems that you come across are usually already answered in the forums.

Fourth question. What kind of anti virus programs are used. I told them that most viruses are aimed towards Windows Systems and that I would have to get back to them with an answer.

[techieMoe]

First question. What Linux OS is best for a TOTALLY new user to try and does it have a Live CD?..

You're going to get a bunch of different answers for this, and all of them are wrong. There's just no way to tell what version of Linux will work for any individual person. We can however recommend distributions that have worked for a large number of people and hope your buddies have similar taste. For that, I recommend looking at the top 5 on Distrowatch:

DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

You could do worse than any one of those. Most have a LiveCD available.

They are not secure with switching because the feel its to much of a hassle. As they put it, "why should I do the work when others get paid to do it?"

I'm not sure what they mean by that. Do they have a personal army of Microsoft employees helping them with every little problem on their computers?

I know a little about Ubuntu and pointed out that it has a live cd and explained how to use it but they are still not convinced to switch over.

Don't push it. Some people are uncomfortable with change. There's no quicker way to alienate your friends than to push them into doing something they regret. If it doesn't work out for them, they'll blame you and you might lose a friend.

It's not good to evangelize as though Linux is the way and the light. Try a more subtle approach. Get them familiar and playing with open-source software that's available for Windows like Firefox, OpenOffice, and the GIMP. Switch them over gradually.

Second question. How secure can parents be with children playing on a Linux OS? OK this one I could not answer at all as I do not have any kids in the house :P. But i think it is a good question.

Very secure. The regular user accounts in Linux cannot mess with any system files, only ones in their own home directory. That means not having to worry that little Johnny is going to delete NTKRNL.SYS and bork your system.

There's also basically no threat of viruses or malware in Linux, and without an administrator password the kids can't install software on the machine (even if they knew the difference between Linux software and Windows software).

Third question. What kind of support can I get with Linux.
I basically told them that Support is community support and nothing like Microsoft support. Usually you get an answer in 10 minutes or less. Problems that you come across are usually already answered in the forums.

Yes, you do have the support of a worldwide community with forums such as this one. However, don't get their hopes up with unrealistic expectations. Sometimes questions get asked and it isn't until several days later they get a satisfactory answer. We're all volunteers here, and if your friends get on the forum expecting a prompt answer and have a sense of entitlement, they won't like the responses they get.

Fourth question. What kind of anti virus programs are used. I told them that most viruses are aimed towards Windows Systems and that I would have to get back to them with an answer.

The only antivirus I use is to make sure I don't spread infected files that could harm other computers on the network. For this purpose I use ClamAV. There are others available such as Kaspersky. By and large they're not needed in Linux.

[ryokimball]

About children playing with Linux: just be careful if you're wanting to be the computer expert --letting them play in Linux often leads to learning a lot, often much more than the adults. Typical of technology, but Linux is a very computer-learning environment.

[L4Linux]

About kids: They can use Kidzui extension for Firefox. Check here and here..
Viruses: 1. They are mostly aimed at Windows. 2. In Linux you are a simple user by default and must give your password to become admin. In windows you can be admin and even worse: an admin without password!! 3. In windows you download things from sites that you can't trust and many times the programs are really viruses/trojans/spyware disguised as useful software. In Linux you install programs from trusted repositories, so you know that they are safe to install. 2nd and 3rd reason combined gives you a very secure environment against viruses/trojans/spyware. You can install an antivirus if you want to. A monthly scan should be more than enough.
I agree with TechieMoe's approach:

Get them familiar and playing with open-source software that's available for Windows like Firefox, OpenOffice, and the GIMP. Switch them over gradually.

Finally, you can get paid support if you want to.(For example support for Ubuntu from Canonical that develops it, or from Novell for Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop) And it will help the distribution to pay for full time developers.

[elija]

Not all distros have paid professional support but with some of the community led distros such as Mint and PCLOS you will find the creators of the disto are active in their forums and regularly answer questions. This may be true of the bigger distros as well.

I'm not sure that you can have such direct access to the Microsoft guys, at least not on such an informal basis

[MikeTbob]

I'm not sure that you can have such direct access to the Microsoft guys, at least not on such an informal basis

Maybe if you showed up at a Microsoft convention and started throwing chairs about.

[D-cat]

Okay, Linux isn't Amiga, but the idea carries over.