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[slidemansailor]

Approaching an unlimited budget by owning taxation and money printing, the ruling elite has platoons of trolls in cubicles around the world. They have squadrons of hackers, fleets of programmers and congresses of baboons busting, smashing and destroying the freedom of information exchange the Internet could be.

Nothing we do on the world wide web is secure. Everything is stored in their great databases. BUT I do try to help them work to earn it. I avoid the obvious by shunning Windoze, Apple, Google, smart phones, the cloud and such.

I have seen suggestions here for tools that are better than others at respecting human rights. Some are quite old in computer years.

What is the state of the art today?

Hired guns feel free to chime in. It is always a challenge to winnow the information.

I am currently using Mozilla products Firefox and Thunderbird, running on Linux Mint operating systems.

[MamaLiberty]

Ah! Tell me more about "mint" as an operating system. Since I'll have to get another computer soon, I want to learn as much as I can about other systems than the Fedora I've been using. I'm interested in stability and function. 

As an example of function... I'm trying to get an update for the Firefox browser already installed on this old machine. It was installed in 2014, and many websites I'm visiting now tell me it is out of date. Some sites simply won't function until I update.  So, I went looking and can't find anything that indicates it is simply an update, so I downloaded the whole shebang. Saved it to "downloads" and it opened in "archive manager" when I double clicked it after opening the archive manager in "file manager"... but nothing happens. I cannot figure out any way to install it. When I request updates in "software" the message is that everything is already up to date. But that can't be true because I have not used this machine since 2014, and Firefox is obviously out of date.

Makes an old lady want to cuss and take up knitting...

[Bill St. Clair]

"Mint" is one of the many Ubuntu offshoots. Lots of people like it. I haven't ever used it. I prefer plain old Ubuntu.

It just occurred to me that your Firefox update problem may be that you have the latest version of Firefox that works with your version of Fedora. You probably need to update Fedora. I don't know how to do that.

[MamaLiberty]

"Mint" is one of the many Ubuntu offshoots. Lots of people like it. I haven't ever used it. I prefer plain old Ubuntu.

It just occurred to me that your Firefox update problem may be that you have the latest version of Firefox that works with your version of Fedora. You probably need to update Fedora. I don't know how to do that.

I don't know how to do that either. Wish I could remember why I didn't like Ubuntu....

The Fedora on this box is exactly the same as it was on the burned out one.    But the "automatic updates" came along, and Firefox was one of them... so I'm good until I get a new box anyway.

[securitysix]

"Mint" is one of the many Ubuntu offshoots. Lots of people like it. I haven't ever used it. I prefer plain old Ubuntu.

It just occurred to me that your Firefox update problem may be that you have the latest version of Firefox that works with your version of Fedora. You probably need to update Fedora. I don't know how to do that.

I don't know how to do that either. Wish I could remember why I didn't like Ubuntu....

The Fedora on this box is exactly the same as it was on the burned out one.    But the "automatic updates" came along, and Firefox was one of them... so I'm good until I get a new box anyway.

I'm glad the auto-updater saved you this time.  In the future, you can go to the command line and force some updates.

Depending on the version of Fedora you're running, you should have a package/software manager either called "yum" (version 21 and before) or "dnf" (version 22 and later).  Both of these are run from the command line.

To use them, go to your command prompt and type:

Code: [Select]

sudo yum -y update

Code: [Select]

sudo dnf -y update
This will prompt you for an admin password, then run the yum or dnf command to install all available updates with root (super user) permission, and will answer "yes" to any "yes/no" prompts that come up.  You can also put the "-y" switch at the end if you're typing along and suddenly remember it right before you press enter, like I do all the time.

[MamaLiberty]

Thanks, S Six... I have never used the "command" terminal thing and have no idea what to do with it. Since I don't understand it, I'm afraid to touch it... too much can go very, very wrong!

Fortunately, the telephone guy does all sorts of computer stuff on the side, and he's agreed to help me with any new box I get. It is well worth paying him to do these things. He wants to build up his own business and work for the phone company less... a goal I heartily support.   The other computer guy in town is not nice, and is overpriced. Some competition will do him a world of good. LOL

[Byte Me]

I use such a jumbled combo of different software on over a dozen different machines throughout my work day and at home.  In general I stick to Firefox and Brave for browsing.  I keep Privacy Badger, Ghostery & AdBlock updated in Firefox.  I am experimenting with OpenVPN right now.  Tor.  I am also trying to figure out whether or not fully encrypted file systems are really practical for everyday browsing or not.  I'm learning so much new stuff at the moment that it's pretty hard to keep track of all the little details.  The info is seemingly endless!

Oh, GlassWire.  Look into it.  It gives a visual picture of everything that leaves or enters your computer.  Well, short of EM radiation...    It'll show you what software is trying to 'phone home'.  It's a really useful tool to have.  Wireshark & Network Monitor are also useful tools to understand if you're really into the minutia of the inner workings of computer networking.

[slidemansailor]

I realized I did not answer Mama's query.

Mint is a very user-friendly, non-geek version of Ubuntu. While it is theoretically possible to download it for free, that is a ton of data that in my experience gets corrupted along the way.  For six bucks you can get a reliable installation disc in the mail.

https://www.osdisc.com/products/linux/linuxmint

Specify your machine as 32-bit or 64-bit and choose Cinnamon or MATE version (I think Cinnamon is the one I choose).

The interface and functionality is pretty much in keeping with popular opsys, minus the onerous "we own your computer" hubrus they have.
Plus there is a massive array of customization and software free for the asking.

I cannot imagine going back to windoze for any reason.

[MamaLiberty]

For six bucks you can get a reliable installation disc in the mail.

Sounds excellent. I'll do that. I have never had much luck downloading program things from the internet.  How do I find out if this new box is 64 or 32 bit? It is a refurbish and there was zero documentation with it.

I cannot imagine going back to windoze for any reason.

Me either.

[mi6a2lm]

try applications -> accessories -> terminal

then type

uname -m

https://www.howtogeek.com/198615/how-to-check-if-your-linux-system-is-32-bit-or-64-bit/


me:

j@j-laptop:~$ uname -m
i686


"The machine hardware name lists whether your system is 32-bit (“i686” or “i386”) or 64-bit (“x86_64”)."

[MamaLiberty]

try applications -> accessories -> terminal

Thanks, but I will not go anywhere near the "terminal." Never, ever, for any reason. You wouldn't want a two year old driving an 18 wheeler, would you?

[mi6a2lm]

try applications -> accessories -> terminal

Thanks, but I will not go anywhere near the "terminal." Never, ever, for any reason. You wouldn't want a two year old driving an 18 wheeler, would you?

You should be OK.  That 'uname' command will just spit out the info you need - then you can close it out.  But depending on your computer it might not matter if the new distro can't talk to the screen.

My travails:  https://secure.thementalmilitia.com/forums/index.php?topic=30495.0

[Byte Me]

Hoping that's easy... 

Clear as mud. I administer three fora, several blogs - including my own - and contribute to a great many others. I also write fiction, which is backed up to my thumb drives as often as I think of it... need to do so more often.

My remaining question is how to find out if this new computer is 64 bit or not. I have to know that before I can order the disk.

I do not have "wifi" at all, had it blocked from my DSL modem. The reason for that is a bit complicated, but just figure that someone in this area has figured out how to hack other people's connections and I got sick of it. I don't use it for anything, so it is no loss.

[Bill St. Clair]

My remaining question is how to find out if this new computer is 64 bit or not. I have to know that before I can order the disk.

I've never heard of a disk drive caring how many bits are in the processor accessing it, but I suppose it's possible.

My mac:

Code: [Select]

billstclair@Gabriel:~$ uname -a
Darwin Gabriel.local 16.7.0 Darwin Kernel Version 16.7.0: Thu Jun 15 17:36:27 PDT 2017; root:xnu-3789.70.16~2/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64
My odroid Arm machine:

Code: [Select]

odroid@odroid:~$ uname -a
Linux odroid 3.10.33 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Dec 11 02:05:25 BRST 2014 armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux
x86_64 is the clue to 64 bits here. Not sure what it would be for a 32-bit processor. Don't have any of those any more. Probably "X86".

[MamaLiberty]

I've never heard of a disk drive caring how many bits are in the processor accessing it, but I suppose it's possible.

The disk in question is to install the "mint" version of linux OS. The order form asks me to choose between 64 and 32 bits... The new machine is an HP/Compaq desktop, refurbished. It is a commercial/office machine. I suspect I'd be safe assuming it is 64 bit, since it is a newer one, but I'd like to be sure.