Re: Fw: [620peace] VIRUS ALERT--READ--PAY CLOSE ATTENTION--FROM RITA DICARLO

[Jon Flanders <Jon_Flanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fred,

  This is a hoax. As a Linux user I don't worry about such things and am
going  to respond to these warnings from now on by saying, try it, you
might like it. See below.

  Jon Flanders

You can go to the website below an order the following for around $10.

http://www.edmunds-enterprises.com/linux/index.php


   I would try the Knoppix and Demolinux discs first. Knoppix is more up
to date. Both simply boot into Linux from the cd, if you make your cd
rom drive bootable. Your underlying XP system won't be affected. No
partitioning, nothing. Everything is loaded into memory, quite amazing
to see, actually. I have tried Demolinux.

   Then if you want to install Linux on its own partition, try the
Mandrake 9 distribution. You will need at least 2 gigs space for a full
install. A boot manager like Lilo or Grub gives you the option of either
windows or linux.




Knoppix 3.1 (2003-01-01)

What is KNOPPIX®?

KNOPPIX is a bootable CD with a collection of GNU/Linux software,
automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound
cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used
as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a
platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to
install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD
can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it.

What software is installed on the KNOPPIX-CD?

The following Highlights are available in version 3.1 of this
Debian-based (www.debian.org) CD:

* Linux-Kernel 2.4.x
* KDE V3.0.x as the standard desktop with K Office and the Konqueror
WWW-browser konqueror
* X Multimedia System (xmms) an MPEG-video, MP3, Ogg Vorbis Audio player
and xine
* Internet connection software kppp,pppoeconf (DSL) and isdn-config
* Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) Version 1.2
* utilities for data recovery and system repairs, even for other
operating systems
* network and security analysis tools for network administrators
* OpenOffice(TM), the GPL-developed version of the well-known
StarOffice(TM) office suite
* many programming languages, development tools (including kdevelop) and
libraries for developers
* in total more than 900 installed software packages with over 2000
executable user programs, utilities, and games


What are the minimum system requirements?

* Intel-compatible CPU (i486 or later),
* 16 MB of RAM for text mode, at least 96 MB for graphics mode with KDE
(at least 128 MB of RAM is recommended to use the various office
products),
* bootable CD-ROM drive, or a boot floppy and standard CD-ROM (IDE/ATAPI
or SCSI),
* standard SVGA-compatible graphics card,
* serial or PS/2 standard mouse or IMPS/2-compatible USB-mouse.
Price:   $0.99 USD
Shipping:   $1.50 USD


Linux Mandrake 9.0 i586 (3 CD Set)

MandrakeSoft's release of Mandrake Linux 9.0 (Dolphin), is a
new-generation Linux operating system for servers and desktop
workstations. Mandrake Linux 9.0 combines all the power & stability of
Linux with many new and unique features plus the famous "Mandrake touch"
which has a long tradition of excellence and leadership on the desktop.

It includes the latest versions of the premiere Free Software packages,
including the newest stable releases of Linux Kernel 2.4.19, KDE 3.0.3,
GNOME 2.0.1, OpenOffice 1.0.1, Mozilla 1.1, GCC 3.2, CUPS 1.1.15 -- over
2000 packages in all.

Mandrake Linux 9.0 is the result of over four years of work to offer the
most powerful Linux operating system and world-class applications to the
public. With the growing power of PC hardware and widespread adoption of
Internet protocols, the distinction between 'server' and 'desktop' has
begun to blur. Server implementations now generally require a polished
graphical desktop, while many desktop workstations routinely include
professional features such as a firewall or a small FTP/webserver.

Mandrake Linux 9.0 answers all these needs with a unique solution to
satisfy the widest range of uses. At installation time, the system
easily adapts to an individual users' needs and expertise without
requiring any difficult configuration choices or options. As a result,
individuals receive the best set of desktop features, and corporate
users benefit from the most powerful server features.
Price:   $2.97 USD
Shipping:   $4.50 USD

The DemoLinux CD allows the use of Linux without installation, disk
partitioning or any other complex manipulation that still prevents many
people from giving Linux a try. This CD does not install Linux on your
hard disk, but it allows you to play with it at length before you
eventually decide to proceed with a full fledged installation.

This is made possible by a set of technical features in the Linux kernel
and by some other free software (notably from S.u.S.E. and RedHat) that
we use here.

The goal is to allow everybody to make by himself an idea of what Linux
can offer, and also to provide software publishers with a means to give
out easy to use, no-hassle demos of their Linux products.

This CD is also a wonderful means of using Linux everywhere: you can
take your favorite configuration with you in a CD that fits in your
pocket, sit down in front of most PCs running another OS, boot from the
CD and find yourself in front of your preferred environment in minutes.


Hardware requirements

To try DemoLinux, you need an IBM-PC compatible computer with a CD-ROM
drive (better if it is an ATAPI one, and if it is less than 32x, be
prepared to be patient), and:

    * at least 64 Mb of RAM (32 with some versions of DemoLinux, 16 in
text-mode),
    * a VESA 2.0 compatible graphics adapter (Most recent adapters
are.).
    * a PS/2 or a serial mouse.

This allows you to get a running Linux system with a preconfigured
desktop.

Among various other improvements, version 3.0 now introduces the Xvesa X
server, replacing the frame buffer used before, which depended on VESA
2.0 cards. It now handle PCI sound cards, Lucent winmodems, Reiserfs
version 3.5.x, certain USB peripherals and several other 2.2.18 kernel
devices. As for version 2.0, DemoLinux 3 heavily uses a transparent
compression schema that allows you to store over a gigabyte of
applications, including Gnome, KDE and the StarOffice office suite. The
compression code has been fixed and now it is faster and more reliable.
The list of installed packages is extensive.

Price:   $0.99 USD
Shipping:   $1.50 USD


The short life and hard times of a Linux virus
l
i
n
u
x
    

Why aren't the existing Linux viruses[1] anything more than a topic for
conversation? Why don't they affect you in your daily computing in the
way that MS viruses affect Windows users?

There are several reasons for the non-issue of the Linux virus. Most of
those reasons a Linux user would already be familiar with, but there is
one, all important, reason that a student of evolution or zoology would
also appreciate.

First, let's take a look at the way Linux has stacked the deck against
the virus.

For a Linux binary virus to infect executables, those executables must
be writable by the user activating the virus. That is not likely to be
the case. Chances are, the programs are owned by root and the user is
running from a non-privileged account. Further, the less experienced the
user, the lower the likelihood that he actually owns any executable
programs. Therefore, the users who are the least savvy about such
hazards are also the ones with the least fertile home directories for
viruses.

Even if the virus successfully infects a program owned by the user, its
task of propagation is made much more difficult by the limited
privileges of the user account. [For neophyte Linux users running a
single-user system, of course, this argument may not apply. Such a user
might be careless with the root account.]

Linux networking programs are conservatively constructed, without the
high-level macro facilities that have enabled the recent Windows viruses
to propagate so rapidly. This is not an inherent feature of Linux; it is
simply a reflection of the differences between the two user bases and
the resulting differences between the products that are successful in
those markets. The lessons learned from observing these problems will
also serve as an innoculation for future Linux products as well.

Linux applications and system software is almost all open source.
Because so much of the Linux market is accustomed to the availability of
source code, binary-only products are rare and have a harder time
achieving a substantial market presence. This has two effects on the
virus. First, open source code is a tough place for a virus to hide.
Second, for the binary-only virus, a newly compiled installation cuts
off a prime propagation vector.

Each one of these obstacles represents a significant impediment to the
success of a virus. It is when they are considered together, however,
that the basic problem emerges.

A computer virus, like a biological virus, must have a reproduction rate
that exceeds its death (eradication) rate in order to spread. Each of
the above obstacles significantly reduces the reproduction rate of the
Linux virus. If the reproduction rate falls below the threshold
necessary to replace the existing population, the virus is doomed from
the beginning -- even before news reports start to raise the awareness
level of potential victims.

The reason that we have not seen a real Linux virus epidemic in the wild
is simply that none of the existing Linux viruses can thrive in the
hostile environment that Linux provides. The Linux viruses that exist
today are nothing more than technical curiosities; the reality is that
there is no viable Linux virus.

Of course this doesn't mean that there can never be a Linux virus
epidemic.[2] It does mean, however, that a successful Linux virus must
be well-crafted and innovative to succeed in the inhospitable Linux
ecosystem.






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