Locked Out

[laserblue]

What's the point of my bootable USB pen with portable apps if all the public computers that I have access to (including the internet cafes that rent computer time) have administrative restrictions in place that prevent me from rebooting or accessing .exe files to start DSL embedded or my portable apps? I might as well just buy a cheap linux compatible netbook and forget about trying to carry around my OS and apps on a bootable USB flashdrive.

[Segfault]

Back in 2003 I was traveling in the USA when I got a call from the company I was working for. Somebody lost email access and I needed to reset the password. I went to a library and had following dialog.

I: Can I use internet from here.
They: Sure, your ID please.
I: Here it is ...
... well, it seems you do not have SSH client installed in these computers here, can I install it?
T: No, you cannot install anything.
I: So I cannot use internet from here?
T: You can use IE.

It seems there is a whole generation who thinks internet = IE ...

[Lazydog]

Ah..., come on now. That was 7+ years ago. We have matured now, we believe that Firefox is also the internet and much safer then IE.
Oh..., wait. The last part is true, FF is safer.

To Iaserblue: Ask yourself if you would trust a stranger coming into your place of business and booting into something that you didn't know about. Would you allow this? It all has to do with CYA.

[Segfault]

Ah..., come on now. That was 7+ years ago. We have matured now, we believe that Firefox is also the internet and much safer then IE.
Oh..., wait. The last part is true, FF is safer.

FF is safer, but ... if you have a barrel of wine in storage and that barrel has a hole in it ... does it matter how big that hole is? When you go looking for that wine the barrel will be empty anyhow.

Underground break-in kit ads are very clear. It does not matter what browser you run, if it runs on MS Windows breach is guaranteed for six months. This means if MS happens to fix the security hole they exploit you will get free upgrade.

BTW, I moved to the US myself, tropical climate suits me better.

[laserblue]

Ah..., come on now. That was 7+ years ago. We have matured now, we believe that Firefox is also the internet and much safer then IE.
Oh..., wait. The last part is true, FF is safer.

To Iaserblue: Ask yourself if you would trust a stranger coming into your place of business and booting into something that you didn't know about. Would you allow this? It all has to do with CYA.

I am well aware of why the local University and the Public Library and even the internet cafe/computer rental places have their security restrictions. I even know someone with a home network that has been having a lot of trouble with viruses, trojans and worms. I'm just disappointed because I'm interested in using Linux but there always seems to be some catch to using it. There just doesn't seem to be any point in portable apps if I'm locked out of any computer I don't own. I just have to buy my own netbook, notebook or laptop and install Linux if I want to do things away from my own home network. If I own a second desktop computer in my office downtown, I can install Linux and my Linux Apps to it and don't need portable apps. Maybe portable apps on a pendrive would come in handy if my hard drive failed and was away at the data recovery tech shop for a week? Then again, why not just burn it all to a DVD rather than a flashdrive and store it with the other DVDs at the office or at home?
The local University allows me to run any program that does not require administator approval to install, so I've run all kinds of programs like Python and CLISP and the old OPENCYC before the 2GB requirement and use of Java SDK (Java SDK may not be run on the University information commons computers because it requires Admin approval to install). I can run Blender 3D at the University by downloading and running it every time I want to use it, but it would be nicer to just run it from my bootable pendrive with all my Blender data and preferences on my pendrive. The University information commons is also a known cesspool of viruses, trojans and worms.
In LINUX TOYS II one is shown how to make a bootable pendrive but alas, my pendrive was a cheapo brand that would not boot on a Laptop I wanted to boot to to try it out. But, I found that I was locked out of the publicly accessible computers I would have liked to have run my portable apps on anyway, including the internet cafes.
A Laptop running Windows OS even spit out Linux Live Cds when I tried running a virus scan on a hard drive that was suspected of being infected. The authors of many books said LINUX LIVE CDs could be used to rescue an infected Windows computer and it was all so easy. Well, they all got spit out in short time. When I tried running Ubuntu Live, it said the laptop had a bad bios as well.
A wireless adapter was being used that other people online reported having trouble getting to run with Linux.
I looked at lots of Distros from the 2010 Linux Bible Live Cds but hardware incompatibility problems I've seen make me wonder what kinds of problems I'll get into when I buy a Linux compatible netbook. I know there are hardware lists but it looks like I have no choice about carefully planning everything out so that all my hardware is Linux compatible. Then I'll get to a manufacturer's support site and they will tell me that my browser is not compatible and I must use Microsoft Internet Explorer to chat with them.