Linux newbie questions

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bwjpg
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Linux newbie questions

Post by bwjpg »

Have been using your OS for the past few weeks as primary OS on a dual boot system. Very well done.

1.What is the whole 'You are about to install software that can't be authenticated! Doing this could allow a malicious individual to damage or take control of your system' warning about? Comes up in relation to Linux Mintmenu (1.9 to 1.10) which is a completely harmless update from what I have seen discussed on these forums
2.What is the whole 'hda/sda3 has been mounted 30 times without a check, check is being run automatically' warning about? Comes up every 30th time I log on
3.How hard would it be to have a recent documents list in the main menu? (Just like Windows - I know that will sound like blasphemy to you but it really would be very useful)
4.I agree with Scorp123 Ubuntu has this reputation as the newbie Linux when it's is nothing of the sort. I had a go on Ubuntu 64 before discovering Linux Mint and whilst I admire their ideals, we're based on it after all, it is a bit of a pain if you just want to listen to your MP3s and watch films.
5.Why is there no disk defragmenter? I assume ext3 partitions need defragmenting?
6.What is the truth about viruses and Linux? Obviously the situation won't be as bad as Windows but how worried should I be. A link to an article would be appreciated.
7.How about some Linux Mint branded merchandise (mugs, T-shirts etc)?

Sorry if these questions have been asked already. Anyhow very well done. Can't wait for Cassandra.
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nick
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Linux newbie questions

Post by nick »

5.Why is there no disk defragmenter? I assume ext3 partitions need defragmenting?
Why doesn't Linux need defragmenting?
. . . That is a question that crops up with regularity on Linux forums when new users are unable to find the defrag tool on their shiny new desktop. Here's my attempt at giving a simple, non-technical answer as to why some filesystems suffer more from fragmenting than others.
Rather than simply stumble through lots of dry technical explanations, I'm opting to consider that an ASCII picture is worth a thousand words. Here, therefore, is the picture I shall be using to explain the whole thing:
http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/index. ... ragmenting
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clem
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Post by clem »

Hi,
1.What is the whole 'You are about to install software that can't be authenticated! Doing this could allow a malicious individual to damage or take control of your system' warning about? Comes up in relation to Linux Mintmenu (1.9 to 1.10) which is a completely harmless update from what I have seen discussed on these forums
http://www.linuxmint.com/forum/viewtopi ... ing&t=1026
2.What is the whole 'hda/sda3 has been mounted 30 times without a check, check is being run automatically' warning about? Comes up every 30th time I log on
It makes sure you scan your partitions to see if everything's fine now and then. By default it's set to 30 boots. You can modify this value with the tune2fs command.
3.How hard would it be to have a recent documents list in the main menu? (Just like Windows - I know that will sound like blasphemy to you but it really would be very useful)
There's already a plugin for it.. but it's not stable. You can check the preferences for mintMenu, and in the plugins list add "recent", then remove and re-add your menu to the panel.
4.I agree with Scorp123 Ubuntu has this reputation as the newbie Linux when it's is nothing of the sort. I had a go on Ubuntu 64 before discovering Linux Mint and whilst I admire their ideals, we're based on it after all, it is a bit of a pain if you just want to listen to your MP3s and watch films.
They've made that easier in their new release (Feisty Fawn) with an automatic wizard popping out when you're trying to play a format which is not supported.
5.Why is there no disk defragmenter? I assume ext3 partitions need defragmenting?
It doesn't.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ext3#Defragmentation
6.What is the truth about viruses and Linux? Obviously the situation won't be as bad as Windows but how worried should I be. A link to an article would be appreciated.
I've been using Linux since 1997 and I've never used any antivirus with it. I never had any problems with that. Is it because security is more robust in Linux? Is it because virus makers focus on Windows? Is it because the file permission and multi-user systems make it harder for a virus to affect the system and so to prevent the administrator from removing the virus? I don't know, but the thing is.. although it wouldn't be 100% correct to say "there's no viruses under Linux", it wouldn't be far from the truth either.
7.How about some Linux Mint branded merchandise (mugs, T-shirts etc)?
Alsaphil is working on that. We should start this after Cassandra is released (new logo, new website, new identity..etc).

Clem
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bwjpg
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Thanks

Post by bwjpg »

Thanks for the help. You've really done a good job with this distro in terms of pitching it at the right level.
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