Category: Tech Support

Linux grows UK PC market share | IT PRO

From across the pond:

Linux reaching a record 2.8 per cent share last month [in the UK] pointed to an increasing appetite for OS alternatives, much like other research has found. Wanna read the full story?

Keep in mind this is up from .1 percent in early 2007.

The main reasons (besides Vista frustration) are Ubuntu has made it easier for people to get started in Linux and it sure helps Dell is pre-loading Ubuntu on some machines.

If you are frustrated with Vista, or just want to give this Linux thing a try, don’t be afraid. You may have to learn a couple new things (like burning an iso image to a CD) but there are some great guides online that make it easy.  Heck, you can even Skype me and I’ll help you if I can.  The biggest question most people have is “can i go back if I don’t like it.”  Absolutely.  Ubuntu (and nearly ever version of Linux) has a “Live CD” where you can put a CD in the drive, reboot and it bypasses (but doesn’t touch) your operating system with Ubuntu running completely from the disk and your memory.  Keep in mind this is much slower than how it will actually run.  But it is a great way to get a peak at it and see if it will work well with your hardware. When you are done, log out, remove the disk, reboot and you are back in Vista (burp – I just threw up in my mouth a little typing that).

Optimus Media News » FBI Warns of Storm Worm Virus

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and its partner, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), have received reports of recent spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software, known as malware. These e-mails, which contain the phrase “F.B.I. vs. facebook,” direct e-mail recipients to click on a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook, a popular social networking website. The Storm Worm virus has also been spread in the past in e-mails advertising a holiday e-card link. Clicking on the link downloads malware onto the Internet connected device, causing it to become infected with the virus and part of the Storm Worm botnet.

“The spammers spreading this virus are preying on Internet users and making their computers an unwitting part of criminal botnet activity. We urge citizens to help prevent the spread of botnets by becoming web-savvy. Following some simple computer security practices will reduce the risk that their computers will be compromised,” said Special Agent Richard Kolko, Chief, FBI National Press Office.

Everyone should consider the following:

* Do not respond to unsolicited (spam) e-mail.

* Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as officials soliciting personal information via e-mail.

* Do not click on links contained within an unsolicited e-mail.

* Be cautious of e-mail claiming to contain pictures in attached files, as the files may contain viruses. Only open attachments from known senders.

* Validate the legitimacy of the organization by directly accessing the organization’s website rather than following an alleged link to the site.

* Do not provide personal or financial information to anyone who solicits information.

More here: Optimus Media News » FBI Warns of Storm Worm Virus.

[solved] Google Calendar CalDAV support (not only on Mac)

With excitement I read Google’s calendar will now support CalDAV. Yeah, now I can sync Lightening (Thunderbird’s Sunbird plugin) with Google, right?  Nope. I can’t. It only works on Apple’s iCal.  From Google help pages:

“While other calendar applications support CalDAV (including Mozilla Sunbird), Google Calendar only supports CalDAV using iCal.”

Bummer.

UPDATE: I have found a solution, another problem and a solution to that problem.

Lightning: It’s a Sunbird plug-in for Thunderbird.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/2313

Provider for Google Calendar
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/4631

I have installed Thunderbird and Lightning from Ubuntu repos (via Synaptic).  But couldn’t get Provider to work or allow me to add a new calendar.  Finally I found a post in a forum that helped.  The issue is you are missing libstdc++ 5. Install that from Synaptic and you are good to go.

This is a hit and run how to. It assumes you know all of the terms used and you have installed add-ons in thunderbird and from Synaptic before. But if you haven’t and need more detail on how to do anything, please feel free to ask.

Micro$oft pulls a Folgers switch (kind of).

CNET News.com reports:

Spurred by an e-mail from someone deep in the marketing ranks, Microsoft last week traveled to San Francisco, rounding up Windows XP users who had negative impressions of Vista. The subjects were put on video, asked about their Vista impressions, and then shown a “new” operating system, code-named Mojave. More than 90 percent gave positive feedback on what they saw. Then they were told that “Mojave” was actually Windows Vista.

Sounds a little like the “Folger’s Switch” from years ago.

Instead trying this on XP fans, try it with some Mac-vangelists or fellow Linux fans.  Then you’ll impress me.

ZDNet.com: Best Buy to sell Ubuntu for $19.99

ZDNet.com has news about Ubuntu available at BestBuy for 20 bucks, writing:

Best Buy to sell Ubuntu

So what do you get for your twenty bucks? The retail box contains ”Ubuntu 8.04 CD, a Quick Start Guide and 60 days of support from the ValuSoft team, trained and backed by the Canonical support guys. The support covers installation and getting started using Ubuntu and is priced at $19.99.”

This is good news from a marketing standpoint; pushing Linux even more main stream.  Will they sell a lot of boxes?  Probably not.  But this is still a good move. Or at least it can be.  I’d like to see what they wrote on the box.  There is still a lot of misunderstanding about Linux and how something free can be as good (or arguably better) than a 200-300 dollar operating system.  There’s also a great deal of misconception about what software will work and won’t work on it.

Back to the article:  I agree 2 month’s of support is not worth the 20 bucks.  Download the ISO and burn a disk. Don’t know how or what I even just said?  Click here.

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