Smoke Screens and Linux

In my net surfings, I have encountered that smoke screens about Linux security are becoming popular. The way in which certain threat alerts were made public amused me. I believe that there was a malicious intention to discredit the Penguin OS using slanted information behind the sensationalist hype.

I found one smoke screen in Yahoo. The feature was a post titled: "Linux Trojan Raises Malware Concerns". I guess the point was to make Linux beginners question their choice. After all, if we migrate to Linux to feel safer and this OS is as vulnerable as Windows, why the bother? However, the strategy did not work so well because even Linux newbies could see beyond the alarming news. (You can read a Linux beginner's nice response about this story here). The original news read "a vast collection of Linux systems may, in fact, be pwned". Let's see:
1. According to statistics, Linux has the 1% of the desktop market.
2. The threat was neither found in the official repositories of "major" Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, Mandriva, etc) nor in "minor" ones (Mepis, Zenwalk, Pardus).
3. Users had to download and install the infected file themselves from a site (This means we are not talking about MOST beginners, who are becoming familiar with the repositories of their distros).
4. The file is a tarball. For computer beginners, installing one of those is like changing the computer processor.
5. The infected file is for chatting using a specific platform.
6. The threat was not likely to have compromised enterprise Linux servers (where more Linux systems are found).

Then, what does "a vast collection of systems" mean here?
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Why aren't people buying these things so easily anymore? I have the theory that, while the success of Windows was the ignorance of the user, Linux communities teach their users and this knowledge empowers people. After all, in the 21st Century, more computer users are awakening. Little by little, we are breaking this shell of fear and gullibility and we are beginning to see through the smoke generated to make us stumble. We read. We check. We double-check. We participate in forums and get informed.
Above all, beginner Linux users are abandoning herd mentality.

No One Takes Linux Seriously Until...

Find the computer that works in the picture above.

Yes, nobody takes Linux seriously until you are face to face with the Blue Screen of Death, your system refuses to start, or maybe it does, but then it goes into a never ending loop of booting. I have never experienced anything like this in Linux. All those critical moments become particularly nerve-racking when you depend on your computer for turning in a vital assignment, when you are waiting for an important document file, or the day in which you must retrieve information that happens to be stored only inside your HD.

WHAT TO DO: LIVE CDs
You want to give Linux a chance but you are afraid of "not understanding it"? Well, remember that you can RUN the Linux OS from a CD or DVD without installing anything to your computer! All you have to do is put it on the CD/DVD tray and run it. It's as simple as that. Of course, you must remember that the performance is going to be a bit slower, but this way you can learn about Linux without committing to a full migration until you are ready for it.

If you practice with a Live CD of your favorite distro, next time your Windows computer crashes, you will be ready to operate it temporarily using Linux. A colleague of mine (who happens to break his computer from time to time with the aid of the most destructive viruses I've ever seen) started his computer, checked his email, and browsed the Web this way for almost a month before we could restore his Windows XP. I personally don't recommend surviving on a Live CD for so long, but it was his choice and Linux was up to the job.

If you practice, you will use your knowledge about Linux for your personal advantage in a crisis.

OK, I started the system with a Live CD...
Now, how do I get my file?
First, if you want to rescue a fle, you must have a USB stick to save the file to it. You must be familiar with Windows Explorer (not the browser, the file manager). Well, in Linux, there are several file managers, like Dolphin. Open Dolphin from the system tools menu and, to the left, you will see the different partitions on your HD. Explore them to find the Windows partition and then locate the folder where your file is. Once you see it, right click on it and copy it to a USB drive. If it is a document file and you want to work with it, Open Office will open it and you can change it. Just be careful and make sure you save it to your USB drive.

WARNING: This process works particularly well in Mepis. You get a desktop environment similar to Windows (KDE), which facilitates things for Windows users. You can also do it from Ubuntu Live CD, but you must take into account that this distro uses a desktop environment that is more like Mac (Gnome). Don't panic, the bar is up, not down, but you'll get used to it. Mandriva might not let you open the Windows partition from a Live CD, but you can do this if you have a dual boot (Windows/Mandriva). Some other distros may not come with an office suit (like Vinux), so check first.