Scuse me, is this the resistance?

[juan53]

Hi
I'm not sure if posting this message on here is suitable.
Some months ago, my computer and all the rest of my home network were infected, and that was the reason why started to learn about cybersecurity. I understood quickly that I couldn't consider Wos a "reliable" OS beause of its hidden gates and all the staff related. And that the reason why I'm here.
I know that Microsoft has have acess to all of your personal data, and, rightnow the company has change its privacy policy and it started to sell your information. In fact, if you don't customize the default installation of Wos10, many services open ports wildly, which comunicates with Google and other firms.
That's the point where I came across links which says that Linux community (in general terms) could be called the resistance, for example, cause its denial to follow the majority. Is this true? How close are Linux comunity and that kind of resistance? Is it mean hacktivism? And if that's so, how the hacktivist are like and what are their intentions?

[QIII]

Common misconception. No, this is not hactvist central nor is it the resistance. Linux users are just people who use an alternatve OS.

We don't like hackers and crackers who use Linux any more than Windows users like hackers and crackers who use Windows.

Urban legend and FUD abound, however.

If you have come here seeking to join the resistance, you have come to the wrong forum.

[lisati]

Resistance is futile. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_%28Star_Trek%29#.22Resistance_is_futile.22) (Sorry, couldn't resist!) :D

As has already been said, we're not that keen on the misuse of our favourite OS to get up to mischief. On the other hand, we don't mind questions about how to keep our computer gear safe from troublemakers.

[matt_symes]

That's the point where I came across links which says that Linux community (in general terms) could be called the resistance, for example, cause its denial to follow the majority. Is this true? How close are Linux comunity and that kind of resistance? Is it mean hacktivism? And if that's so, how the hacktivist are like and what are their intentions?

What on Earth are you reading ?

Please see my signature below this post.

[yoshii]

personally, i am not grouping all hackers in with malicious hackers. good hackers end up working for security companies, knowing the weaknesses so they can help people patch them up. i had hacker friends in college and they are probably in upper end tech jobs by now. they probably learned their lessons from when their experiments resulted in them getting their computer access revoked.

i actually admire the hacktivists who provide privacy and communication tools for dissidents within dictatorships. they are not the bad guys.

but i am not a hacker either. i'm just a guy who really gets into freewares. if i could remember anything from my programming courses in college i'd be more into open source and i'd try to be a developer of audio software. i'm more of a musician.

but if having an alternative operating system is part of your identity, i don't see anything wrong with that.

peace be with you.
peace is the only way.

[juan53]

Well, thanks for answering, I asked that because I believe that when you tray to protect something against somebody, you should know people who you are protecting against. Knowing how to hack allows you to protect yourself.
I read all the rumours from different sources, but that's true that those are not very trusty, so I decided to asking instead asumming things that they couldn't be true.
Anyway, I realiced that Linux users are quite more aware about computing than Wos users, and in fact, Ubuntu's security documentation tells you how to deploy a deep defense system, which is impossible to read in Wos support forums, documentation...
To finish, well, I'm aware of the existence of cyberpatriots, ethical hackers... And I feel they do something possitive for us, the people, assuming huge risks. But truelly, I would very surprissed that one of them would answer to this post.

[DuckHook]

What on Earth are you reading ?

Please see my signature below this post.I date back to when "hacker" was a badge of honour and referred to a guru who could work around a problem by throwing a mess of code together at will with nothing more than spit, ingenuity and bailing wire. Of course, the term has since been debased into a pejorative meaning, referring to scoundrels and criminals. Man, do I feel old.

In light of the blockbuster that has recently just passed the $1B mark, you guys really need to cut juan53 some slack. His reference to "the Resistance" is a not-so-subtle equating of Linux to the Light side of the Force. I'm rather taken with it. I wanna be Han Solo.\\:D/

[QIII]

The "guru" of which you speak is the worst kind of software developer. Try to review that guy's code once. Or maintain it.

No. Hacking code is not a badge of honor. Trust me.

I go back to the 70s and Unix.

[Irihapeti]

As for the Light...

There was a time, a few years ago, when just about every new member on the forums was greeted with "Welcome to the Light." Aaaaaargh!

Please, noooooooo! It's just an operating system.... :o

[DuckHook]

... Aaaaaargh!

Please, noooooooo! It's just an operating system.... :o...you mean I don't get to be Han?

[Irihapeti]

...you mean I don't get to be Han?

:) :eek:

[HermanAB]

The Penguin Liberation Front has shut down unfortunately, but it was cool while it lasted:
http://plf.zarb.org/

[DuckHook]

Hacking code is not a badge of honor. Trust me.I trust you. Believe me, I trust you. Structured and disciplined coding is far superior to the unreadable undisciplined coding so common during computing's puberty era, but my point was only that the term "hackers" didn't use to refer to jerks and scumbags, like it does now. Well, to be fair, there were a few hackers I knew that, while completely legit, would probably have qualified as jerks and scumbags, but that's true in all walks of life.

[juan53]

Ok guys, as far as I read, I realized that most part of useres of linux are among two extreme profiles. The first one, the guy who entered into the community at the begining, more or less 20 years ago. That kind of guy has moral point of view, and he could take a part in the "resistance" in an active or passive way (by hacking (in the classical definition) or by not using Wos or Xos). The other extreme character is a guy who recently joined to the community. This kind of guy uses Linux because it colud be main stream in some selective cyrcles, need or curiosity. Don't they?
I have to tell you that I have a great impression of what are you doing here, the people (at least, people who have answered to me) and, in general terms, whole project itself.
By the way, the concept "resistance" could be asociated to many other films than Star Wars. In fact, to me, the phenomenom could fit in Matrix, where Wos users keep stored in orther to provide information to Microsoft, and some of them wake up and tell themselves: What the hell am I doing here?

[SantaFe]

i just thought of something, people are tossing out Wos & Xos, wouldn't that make Linux Los? Not a combination I would want to see. ;)

I guess we could always say we were the Los leaders! :)

[Kris_M]

Opinion: I've run windows for many years and never had a virus - if you run a good free antivirus like panda, avast, etc, and I use Win firewall, and watch out where you go, you will not get infected. I also sit behind a router (which I can also use for my phone when I want to d/l a massive file). Sometimes I've been careless and get lots of warning messages. but not infected.

I use win7 - tried 8, 8.1, and 10(VM) and don't care for them. Win7 is good till at least 2020.

I needed win to do things like flash android phone ROMs. Fun. Toys. Done with that - stock for me now. Lazy!

I have a moderately fast cpu so I don't "need" to go to Linux, but I became interested in it a week or 2 ago and played with Ubuntu 14.04.3 (dual boot with win) and was able to get it to do my immediate needs. Now, a week or 2 later, it's what I use.

Willie Gates is gone and I have no need to "rebel" against MS, not that I did when he was there - I've spent many years having fun playing with windows. - it's a toy, like all computers - even the big mainframes I used to work with. Though they do occasionally do some useful work... :)

I have tried Linux in the past (not Ubuntu and not debian based) - it seems to me that Linux has massively matured. I googled and found a couple debs and voila, my Canon MG7520 printer/scanner works! Another slight change and I can plug my phone into the computer and access it's memory. Plugging my Canon elph camera in and a program pops up to take care of pictures. It's easy to shift the display to my Vizio 40" HDTV and watch movies from browser tab. It just works, imho!

There is a large and knowledgeable group of Ubuntu users and with google, and/or this forum, I have gotten tons of help in a very short time, and that is MASSIVE - I'm geeky on windows but a toddler on Linux!

Rebel? me? nah. just having fun and using a much smaller and simpler system. It works, it's dependable, it does what I need, etc. .

:D:D:D

[leclerc65]

My b.i.l's Windows PC get knocked down in no time.
No he's not into adult stuff, I swear - I know the guy. But we belong to an ethnic group that's very politically motivated, both the dark side and the good side.