Need help with Linux distro

My 9 year old daughter's PC has Windows XP on it and, as she's getting older and exploring more of the web, I'm a bit concerned about the security of her box and the fact that XP is no longer publicly supported. I'm not worried about an attack on it, so much, as I am about something she would do to it (carelessly clicking links, etc; she's pretty good about checking with me first, most times, but she'll probably download something thinking she knows what she's doing).

I don't want to pay the price to upgrade her to Win7 since she won't appreciate or even realize the features and benefits, so I was thinking of moving her to a Linux distro.

My first question/issue is: I want to be able to have the OS loaded on a flash drive to boot from so that every time she boots up, it'll be a clean install. I know Linux is bootable from a flash drive already, but is it automatically protected from writing to? Will it prevent her from downloading things, intentional or not, and backdoor attacks, providing a "clean install" each time she boots up?

Question 2: Years ago (I built her this PC when she was 5) I backed up all of her DVDs and CDs and loaded the mp3s & avi's on her drive locally so that she could just click on what she wanted to listen to/watch, instead of changing out discs and scratching them up, stepping on them, losing them, eating them, etc... What would be the best method of making this content available to her, provided I find a solution to the first question? Would I first install Linux directly to her internal drive and load everything I want on it, then create an image for the thumb drive and wipe the HDD? Load the media on her internal drive (or NAS) and make it accessible from the basic OS image on the drive? If the latter, would the internal drive have to be mapped each time? Will it also be protected from inadvertent installs (I still back up her stuff out of habit, and because she's still a bit messy and I worry about lost/broken discs, so I want to be able to add to her library, but only when I intentionally want to upload to it).

Any suggestions/insight/advice/experiences based on these two issues facing me? I also would like an easy to use interface for her. She's incredibly intelligent, but I don't want to overwhelm her with a complete change and something that carries a huge learning curve.

Thank you for any help.

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Re: Need help with Linux distro

by BigSnacks May 27, 2010 12:06PM PDT

I decided to give Lucid Lynx a try but now I'm questioning which way I should go about using it, a full install or ran as a live OS from a flash drive.

If I went with a full install, will Ubuntu allow multiple profiles to be set up (me as the local admin, her as just a user; she wants her own login and password, anyway)? Is this just as secure/safe as running it off a USB stick, regarding my concerns in the above post (her clicking links, downloading crap, etc)?

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My answers

by GODhack May 27, 2010 6:03PM PDT

a full install or ran as a live OS from a flash drive?
Install should boot and work faster and then you will have ability to install more software trough package manager.

If I went with a full install, will Ubuntu allow multiple profiles to be set up (me as the local admin, her as just a user; she wants her own login and password, anyway)?
Ubuntu security works in other way than windows. Admin (Username: root) account is disabled at all by defaut, you will be able to re-enable it but it means decreasing security. Sudo password is used instead admin account. You can and should use different sudo password from user login. And you can keep it secret from other PC users. Without sudo password it is practically impossible to make any changes to system and even to look into some info about it (into system files etc).

Installed system may be even more secure because you can get security updates. LiveCD mode is secure in other ways because after reboot everything goes back to fresh state and even if security was breached everything is back to normal again.

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Thank you

by BigSnacks May 27, 2010 8:01PM PDT

Thank you, GODhack. I haven't played with Linux since '03, and even then it was brief, so I'm quite out of the loop.

So I'll just create regular user account(s), and whenever an admin-type task arises, it'll prompt me for the Sudo password?

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answer

by GODhack May 28, 2010 3:07AM PDT

Basically Yes.

Going into some advanced Unix stuff kinda no....
Knowing sudo password is not same as becoming admin.
/etc/sudoers text file describes what users can do what IF they know sudo password. If regular user and his groups are not mentioned at all in that file it means it can not do admin tasks at all, sudo simply do not work for him! Quite drastic security solution because shutdown procedure is admin task too.
More info:
http://linux.die.net/man/5/sudoers
Also there is:
su -
command. If user is in wheel group so he(she) can enter this command and get root (admin) terminal with sudo password after that command. Quite old stuff and outdated litl bit, but still I have this in my Fedora 12. Sometimes handy.

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Try

by R_Head May 29, 2010 3:11PM PDT

Mandriva Linux. I have been using it since 2000 and always ran great !

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fedora or sabayon has some options too

by jimmyhchan Jun 14, 2010 7:49AM PDT

haven't tried these myself but there is a spin of fedora with kiosk mode
http://spins.fedoraproject.org/kiosk/
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Kiosk

and Sabayon linux has an internetkiosk boot option. http://wiki.sabayon.org/index.php?title=Sabayon_Linux#What_is_Internet_Kiosk

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Linux for regular users

by jefelex Jun 19, 2010 2:43PM PDT

In this thread I agree with everything everyone has said, about the flash drive and all - but probably the easiest thing to do is a complete install of Ubuntu (or similar) and make yourself the primary user - for admin purposes, then make and account for your daughter, set it up so it automatically logs her in when she turns on the computer, and then relax! there is basically nothing a normal user can do to corrupt a linux install without the root password (from a laypersons perspective) and it is unlikely she will ever come across a web site that will install something malicious to a linux install anyway!

Happy surfing!
John

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by R_Head Jun 20, 2010 1:15AM PDT

"the easiest thing to do is a complete install of Ubuntu (or similar) and make yourself the primary user - for admin purposes"

You do not need to do that on Linux. That is a Windows mentality.

What you do is, do maintenance with the SUDO command.

If you use Mandriva Linux, all you need to do is go to the Mandriva Control Center (once you click on the icon it will ask for the root password) and you administer the system like that. Is a bad practice to run with the root account, you are asking for serious issues. I do not even run a Windows OS like that either.

Try this on a Windows computer. Find the Explorer EXE file and right click, choose Run As, and use the admin account. Now you can do all that you want as Admin (control panel). Thanks to the Ex-Engineers from DIGITAL (UNIX Engineers) that created Windows NT. Windows NT and their releases (2000 v5, Xp v5.1, Vista v6 and now 7) it kind of works a-la-Linux/UNIX.

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New users

by jefelex Jun 21, 2010 2:22AM PDT

It is totally different from being a "root" user - you still have to use sudo if you have your own account anyway - Ubuntu also has a control center, that works exactly like in the Mandriva release. the root user is not installed by default on an Ubuntu release - it is not necessary anyway. I've used mandriva - and IMO, for a new user to linux, Ubuntu is better - easier to understand, not to different from Windows (what they are used to) but is NOT windows (I hate microsoft with an unquenciable burning fury that cannot be extinguished!) (they went all downhill from after DOS 6.22) Ubuntu is friendly with lots of help and support and I feel they couldn't go wrong. I suggest it to everyone who asks, since almost everyone I talk to is dealing with Windows bloat code, and Ubuntu is a nice but differently familiar way to use their computers!
John

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Ubuntu 10.04: Lucid

by Big DB Jul 4, 2010 4:27AM PDT

Go with Ubuntu, it is by far the best distro for people migrating from windows. you can even follow this tutorial:
http://aminesoft.wordpress.com/tag/make-ubuntu-like-windows-7

with a little messing around it can make your Ubuntu install look just like Windows 7. Personally I prefer Ubuntu because how easy it is to customize EVERYTHING ON THE DESKTOP, but for someone attached to Windows, you can migrate easily with the transformation pack.

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extra point

by Big DB Jul 4, 2010 4:29AM PDT

i would also like to point out that Ubuntu will not be effected by viruses designed for windows, and because linux is such a minority its rare to see a major linux virus

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And

by R_Head Jul 5, 2010 5:18AM PDT

by far Mandriva is even easier than any of the *buntus. Windows is popular because anybody knows any better, but that does not mean is the best.

I can say Mandriva is more GUI driven than any of the *buntus is going to be.

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*buntus

by jefelex Jul 5, 2010 8:52AM PDT

Ya - but that is why Linux is so excellent - you like Mandriva, I like Ubuntu! Far better than microsloft in any event!

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And...

by R_Head Jul 6, 2010 12:51AM PDT

That is the truth.

No matter what you use, Linux is freedom of choice

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Experience with Windows to Ubuntu changeover

by Peter-Collins Jul 10, 2010 8:56AM PDT

We now have Ubuntu 10.04 running on acer N214, HP Mini (diskless), IBM G40 Thinkpad (about 10 years old). The acer came pre-installed with Ubuntu and its bios apparently had been 'tuned' for that - but badly, I'm told, so upgrades and reboots sometimes need professional advice.
The HP and IBM were converted from Vista and XP using standard Ubuntu procedures, seamlessly. BUT - big BUT - I always dumped all important data to a USB disk and discarded everything on the internal disk (or equivalent) at the time of conversion. Start clean, on standard hardware, would be my advice. I do have a bootable Ubuntu thumb drive and sometimes have used it as a conversion aid from MS OS, but never since.
I back up the small (storage) machines onto the biggest and then to alternating external disk drives cycled into the fireproof safe in the cellar. The small machines obtain and update all but trivial, ephemeral data, by accessing the biggest as 'server'. All machines access printer, scanner and fax by accessing another computer (to which they are connected) as 'server' for that purpose.
Notes: To get new software prefer Synaptic Package Manager and Mozilla Add-ons facilities. Downloads from other sources must be preceded by a full backup. Do use Update Manager for its recommended changes, regularly. Do use System Monitor constantly.
Do use Workplace Switcher - it will give you multiple desktops (I use 16) and that allows all the applications for each type of work to be 'kept together'. Do be happy about the small memory needs (on this 1.5G machine there may be more than 20 apps running at once, and according to Monitor I have never yet used it all, or ever used any swap space).
I find Adobe Flash Plugin to be suspect software. Rarely reboot - the acer needs it once a month or so to deal with rare 'odd' behaviour, but the others never do. I use Mozilla for browsing (Firefox) and email (Thunderbird), with great satisfaction.
"Places > Connect to Server" is brilliant as a share mechanism, but you have to run "sudo apt-get install openssh-server" on each machine so it can be accessed as "a server" and of course you then need to know the relevant password for that machine - do that at system build time to avoid the need for another backup.
Best of luck. You may have problems - I did, because MS is so different I found it easy to get often confused about Linux, by what actually turned out in each case to be trivial.
I am tracking the thread and will get email if you need to contact me through it.
Peter

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