[TheForge] OT- spyware prevention

[Andrew Vida]

"Terry L. Ridder" wrote:
> 
> hello;
> 
> the less expensive, money wise that is, way to prevent
> spyware and other evil programs of that ilk is to run
> linux.
> 
> scrap microsoft operating systems and run linux.

	There is a problem with this solution for many people.
	First, you have to buy LINUX, which isn't that costly,
	but there are many people that do not have the experience
	to install it.  Redhat 8 is much improved over past
	releases, but it is still not as idiot-resistant as
	a Windows installation.

	That notwithstanding, there is the problem of applications
	migration.  A person with many years and $$ invested in 
	their Windows environment may not be pleased to find the
	comparatively paltry menu of applications that are available
	for LINUX.  The alternative is to run VMWare, which allows
	the machine to spawn off windows as a process and run the
	various applications such as Word and Excel under it.  It is
	another expenditure and there are still some significant
	bugs with such solutions, but it may be OK for some.

	Don't get me wrong, I like LINUX plenty, but changing to
	it isn't as simple as 1,2,3.  This is especially true of
	casual users.  And LINUX has its own problems such as
	branch versions which are incompatible.  It's a matter
	of what trade-offs one wishes to make.
> 
> your other option would be to buy an emac with macos-x,
> which is really free-bds with a very nice wimp interface.
> (btw, wimp stands for windows, icons, menus, and pointing device.
> originally coined in a college textbook many years ago. see

	Macs are nice machines, but this is just about the most
	costly alternative out there.  G-4s are not inexpensive.
	Apples have always been significantly more costly.  You
	get a lot for the money in many ways, but there are not
	so many people that find the difference worth the added
	price, which is why Apple isn't flying as high as it
	could be, and probably never will.  Their egos have
	screwed their marketing strategies since the very earliest
	days of the company.  The fact that they refused to
	license their window manager to Microsoft back in 82 or
	84 is prima fascia evidence that the company is run by
	idiots of the first order.  Had they done so, they would
	be in the position MS now enjoys as the biggest, baddest
	dog on the block.  But I digress, as usual. :)