Ending End-of-life Windows with Linux

Zorin Linux

XP, and now Windows 7, are end-of-life-ed. What that means is that the software may continue to live, but Microsoft says it will consider them as if they were dead. In reality, end-of-life means end of Microsoft support, unless one is a massive corporation or a government able to pay huge support contracts. Microsoft continues to update these unsupported operating systems, but the average user will not receive those updates -- except, in the rare case where a security issue is so critical that Microsoft feels responsible.

End-of-life is more than just not receiving updates from Microsoft. Vendors stop making versions of their software for your operating system. You might be happy with Word 2003, but your browser may decide not to work any longer. In short, you don't want to be on an unsupported operating system.

Microsoft would like you to upgrade to the newest operating system. But what if you cannot? Old operating systems are generally found on equally old PCs. Old equipment may not be able to support newer operating systems. And, if they do, you may not have the disk space to install it or have the processing power to make the experience feel quick enough to be usable.

In comes Linux. Linux is not a single operating system. No one runs an operating system called "Linux". Linux is a core set of technologies that are based on UNIX. There many versions of Linux, called distros, on the market. Some are commercial, in that you pay for them, and most are free. Fortunately for end-of-life Windows users, there are a number of Linux distros designed specifically to ease the transition from Windows to Linux. One of the prime examples is Zorin Linux, but there are perhaps a dozen others. These distros offer interfaces that can be adjusted to look like specific versions of Windows. You want XP, done. You want Windows 7, fine. Windows 10, no problem. Because Linux tends to run well on older hardware, the transition will not be accompanied by reductions in speed. Some distros even come with utilities that will backup all your Windows data and then import that data into your new Linux distro.

If you are not sure which distro you like, or just nervous about Linux, you can run a distro from a USB device or dual install it  with your current Windows installation -- assuming you have the free disk space.

So, before tossing our your end-of-life PC, give Linux a shot. You'll be happy it allows you to keep your old PC and may find that Linux is the operating system you will want on your next new computer.

Sugar on a Stick

The MIT Review has an interesting bit of news on the next evolution of the OLPC program. The original operating system, called Sugar, is being modified so that it run from a USB flash device. Because Sugar is build for low-end hardware -- what else does one get for $100? -- the operating system and its bundled educational applications should run great on old hardware your school might have in a back room. Sugar, BTW, is a version of Linux.

Sugar and the applications that come with it have been extensively tested with school kids and are in wide-scale use around the world. You know you cannot upgrade your old system to Windows Vista or to OS X, so you have nothing to lose. There is no installation required. You download on to a USB device and set the PC's bios to boot from the device. Unplug the device and the system will boot from whatever is on the hard drive.

T

Alternative To for knowing your options

One of the great difficulties with working on the cheap is that the software your school uses or would like to use is beyond your budget. While there are many places to find which Mac or Linux based program can replace a Windows program, there are not many sites that provide lists of alternative programs on the same OS. Alternativeto.net does just that.
Alternativeto.net lets you click on a program you use or might want to use to see what other programs do the same thing. The site is still quite basic, but given the lack of alternatives, this site is a lot better than nothing.
If anyone knows of better sites, please put them into the comments area.

T

Your computer is the plug

Marvell has produced a new Linux server that plugs into a wall socket. Essentially, what Marvell has created is a small Linux appliance. Others have gone this direction. What I like about this one is that it plugs directly into a wall socket and is designed to run all the time. One potential use for this computer is a host for a web camera. Internet ready web servers can cost quite a bit and they actually include a web server in their hardware. By using a computer with a low-end web camera, you get both the camera and the server, but you control the mix of the two.

This unit could also be used to run a continuous presentation in the school lobby or some other place that a full size computer would not work.

T

Earth blog day and green pc

October 15th is blog action day for global warming. While this is a school technology blog, we all have to live on this planet. So, I picked a device that is about as friendly a computer as possible. The Fit-PC is a small sized PC that consumes only 5 watts of power. It also produces no sound due to not having a fan.

This unit would be great for a number of situations where electrical power is not ample or noise is a concern. The small size would allow a small computer lab to bolt the unit to the bottom of a bench. The down side is the lack of CD-ROM drive and its lower performance. But let's face it, even a low-end PC has more than enough power for word processing and for Internet browsing. This unit can be installed with Windows XP or Linux. They don't say what will happen when Vista is the only Windows OS.

And, this makes for a good firewall. It may cost a bit more than reusing an old PC and open source firewall applications, but it can live in a small closet in a way that an old 486 tower could not.

T

Puppy Linux

LifeHacker has a good review on the recently released new version of Puppy Linux. To be honest, I've not heard of this version. I'm a fan of small form factors of Linux for older computers. This version is also designed to run from a USB flash device.

Running from a flash device can be a good feature for students who need the same application at home -- a likely situation if you're using Linux in the school. This removes the issue of not having the required application at home.

T

Ophcrack: Your double-edged sword

Ophcrack is one of many password cracking tools. While I cannot attest to their claims that they can crack 99.9% of passwords within seconds, it does should like they can get most passwords quicker than you would like. One of their tricks is to have a very large number of passwords encrypted into their protected form. The software then compares the encrypted password it finds on your system with the ones it has made. Once it finds it, it then knows the password required for that pattern to be produced.

The good side of this program is that it can help you to unlock computers that you don't have the password for. This can happen when you either forget, someone as reset it to something you don't know, or the computer has been donated and the owner is not around.

But, the downside is more obvious. A student could put in the ophcrack CD, boot the computer off that CD and then get the password. While I'm not positive, I suspect that finger scanners would not be much help because the finger scanner is only to confirm you identity and then the system inserts a password. The password would be sitting on the system. Probably it's complicated enough that you don't have to worry, but you may want to find out. The only system I would have confidence in would be a smart card system where the password is always changing and checked against a server in a remote and hopefully well-protected location.

T

Making a child-friendly PC

SendMeOn has a good article on how to create a child-friendly computer. The purpose of the article is to get people to donate their old computers or work on other people's old computers to make them available for children. That goal is something that a school computer club might find interesting or you could use the information for parents who ask what they can do to keep their children safe or what to do with an old computer they have laying around home.

T

SELinux and what it means to you

SELinux is a system and not yet another version of Linux -- we certainly have enough of those. SELinux is a security system that locks down the internal operations of program or process so that even if there is a bug in an application, the hacker will not be able to exploit it because the SELinux will forbid the hacker to use the compromised application in any unauthorized method.

Here is a good article on SELinux.

T

Google Calendar Connector

GCALDaemon is a process a way to allow you to synchronize your Google Calendar with Sunbird, an open source cousin of FireFox and ThunderBird.

This is a great idea because you don't want to miss appointments because of being off-line.

T

OLPC Interface

The OLPC program could be a total bust or it could revolutionize the education of children in poorer parts of the world. I like the fact that they are justifying the $100 price based against books and not against other computers. I think you have to show how money that is already present can be redirected. Of course, much of that money is never used or budgeted, but at least it's there in theory.

Anyway, the OLPC people have release screen shots of their system and you can even download the working system to see how it functions. Getting the hardware is another story all together. As far as I know, the general public cannot purchase these units.

T

Understanding UNIX Processes

IBM has prepared a series of articles on understanding UNIX. One article I particularly liked is the one on understanding UNIX processes. While it is pretty easy to work with multiple applications at the same time in a graphic interface, it is far less intuitive on how to do this in a command line environment.

Being able to control processes can be very useful. For example, you start a very long task, such as searching a huge hard drive, and you want to do something else as the window scrolls by with thousands of lines of results. This can be done. Or, let's say that an application is slowing down your server more than you expected and you want to stop it for a few hours. This can be done, as well. Learning these commands will make your time on a UNIX/Linux server a much more productive one. These commands will also work within OS X given that OS X is a UNIX system.

T

Debian 4.0 Released

DeskTopLinux has a write-up on the recently released Debian 4.0. Apparently, it's a major upgrade. I've used Debian on a number of servers and have been very impressed. This version has a copy of Astrix phone system installed. This inclusion could make Debian a fast way to test out Astrix.
The release of Debian's newest version is also important because many other distributions of Linux are build using Debian. So expect to see many more upgrades in the near future. Debian is also good about producing CD-ROM images which can be used to run Debian from a CD-ROM for testing purposes. Obviously, one cannot do practical work on a CD-ROM based system, but you can test the look-and-feel of the software.

Another thing you can do with the CD-ROM versions is to run a low-end computer as a firewall. Running the OS from a CD-ROM makes it virtually impossible for a hacker to modify the files. You would still require a hard drive for log files and temporary files. You could use a floppy disk for configuration settings or configure the software before burning the CD-ROM.

T

Intel's Anser to One Laptop Per Child

Intel and Microsoft have not been very happy about the One Laptop Per Child program. It's not that they don't like the general idea of using technology to help children around the world; rather, it is that they believe it should be done another way. Microsoft wants to see Windows -- OLPC uses Linux -- and Intel wants to use the millions of units being distributed with Intel chips -- not OLPC's AMD chips.

Here is a review of Intel's inexpensive laptop. And, yes, it does run Windows if one adds more memory -- not an uncommon requirement for Windows. ;-). Personally, I don't like it as much. The traditional screen technology eats up lots more energy -- and where's the crank? This unit might work in the US and other places looking for a rugged laptop for k-12 students, but I don't see it being as good as the OLPC unit for the rest of the world.

T

Minix Operating System

If you're like me, I've not heard of the Minix system before. Here is an interesting journal article on done by the FreeSoftware Magazine. It is something like Linux in that it took lessons from UNIX with the intention of running on lower-end hardware. Minix became a learning tool for students wanting to learn about operating system kernels. The kernel is the heart of the operating system. Minix's kernel is very small and thus fairly easy to study. No the people behind Minix have come out with a new version that does many of the things Linux does but on lower-end hardware. It's worth taking a look if you teach computer science or want a possible solution for what to do with old 386 and 486 computers.

T

Need a silent computer?

There are situations where a noisy computer is simply not acceptable. There are a few computers that make any sound. Here is a Linux-based computer that does not have a hard drive or a fan.

T

Asterisk made easy

Asterisk is a very good open source telephone system. The people I know who have one love the system after the pain and suffering of installation. Trixbox removes the installation pain out of the equation. So, if you have a small telephone system, you should check out trixbox.
T

Automate the security of your Linux servers

A firm called ConfigServer Services is offering a free script that will run a security assessment on many Linux versions. The script goes through the myriad of configuration settings to make sure that the most secure options have been selected. An operating system is no more secure than its settings. A poor job of configuration can make any operating system open to attack.

There are a number of similar services, such as Bastille, that should also be considered. Bastille also works on OS X.

T

Hamachi for Off-site Backups

This is not the first time I've written fondly of Hamachi. While it is especially popular with gamers because it creates a local network between players in remote locations, I've recently been able to use its file sharing feature along with my standard backup utility.

The main problem with off-site backups is getting the information some place safe without the hassle of carrying multiple CDs or DVDs. A USB device isn't large enough and carrying around an external hard disk isn't very appealing.

There are some online storage areas, but nothing is so wonderful that I can recommend it. I suspect this will change over the coming year. Hamachi is a free software application that creates a secure network between a number of computers. This can be two computers or hundreds.

Last night I turned on the capability of sharing local drives. I then mapped the remote main drive of my remote server and then used my backup program as I would normally. Naturally, this is not a fast way to backup, but it's as fast as an online storage system and there are no storage fees. If you're like me, you have plenty of extra space on your local hard drive.

One last thing, it would be a good idea to encrypt the folder you plan on saving the backups. You don't want to take a chance with your data being exposed from your computer. As for the connection during the transfer process, Hamachi is more than secure enough for that. One last thing: Hamachi runs on Linux and OS X, as well as on Windows.

T

Which Linux Distro is right for you?

This is a great site for comparing the various Linux distributions.

T