Dell Plugs for Open Source Ubuntu Linux

Well Well well... finally Dell too! As they say... "you cannot keep a good man down"!!

Here's Dell's plug for Open Source Ubuntu/Linux
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/ubuntu?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=anavml

Best part - check out Sl (4) - for Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware - it says "UNWARRANTED"  !!! :-)

Read and enjoy!!!


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First and foremost, Ubuntu is an Operating System. Just like Microsoft^®  Windows^®  or Apple MacOS, you can use Ubuntu to surf the web, check email, or just about anything you might want to do. Here’s a "Top Ten" list of things you should know about Ubuntu.

10) Ubuntu is simple and elegant

If you’re the kind of person who likes your computer to simply work, Ubuntu is right for you. It’s based on stable, secure, easy-to-use software that’s been around for a long time.

9) Ubuntu is designed for the Internet

Do you spend most of your time on the Internet? Ubuntu connects you to the Internet in seconds. Firefox is a very popular browser and works well with practically every website you’ll run across, e.g. news sites, social media sites, etc. It also works great with web-based e-mail sites like Yahoo or Gmail.

8) Ubuntu is "social from the start"

The people who make Ubuntu designed it to be very social-media centric. Do you use Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or any of the other dozens of popular social networking sites? Ubuntu 9.10 works very well with these websites. And beginning with Ubuntu 10.04, these websites will be integrated into the Ubuntu OS itself for your convenience.

7) Ubuntu plays videos, songs, and movies easily

Do you like to watch videos on YouTube, buy songs from Amazon, pop in DVD’s from the local video store? No problem! Dell bundles a multimedia player with Ubuntu to deliver a great entertainment experience.(DRM protected music not supported.)

6) Ubuntu is secure

According to industry reports, Ubuntu is unaffected by the vast majority of viruses and spyware.

5) Ubuntu boots up fast

Beginning with Ubuntu 10.04, available on Dell systems this summer, boot times have improved dramatically over Ubuntu 9.10. Depending upon the Dell computer your purchase, boot times can be around 30 seconds!

4) With Ubuntu, you have access to 1,000’s of free software programs

What do you like to do?

3) Ubuntu with OpenOffice is compatible with Microsoft^®  Office and Adobe^®  Acrobat^® 

Do you need to open Microsoft Office documents? What about Adobe Acrobat? Ubuntu comes with the award-winning OpenOffice software. With it, not only can you create word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and even drawings, but it can also open and save documents in Microsoft Office format. Do you ever get .pdf files emailed to you—no problem!

2) Ubuntu is based on Linux^® 

Linux has been around for nearly 20 years. The software itself is not only stable and reliable, but also pervasive. Linux is used on computers of all sizes ranging from the biggest to the smallest.

1) Ubuntu comes pre-loaded with select Dell desktop, notebook, and netbook computers

Beginning in 2007, Dell began shipping computers with Ubuntu. Since then, Dell has shipped more computers pre-loaded and pre-tested with Ubuntu than any other computer maker in the world. Every computer we ship with Ubuntu has been fully tested to ensure the best possible Internet and multimedia experience Linux has to offer. Two high-tech leaders—ensuring Ubuntu on Dell "just works."

Best Free Security Distribution - Live CD

1. BackTrack

The best contender on the block of course is BackTrack. An innovative merge between WHax and Auditor (WHax formely WHoppix).

BackTrack is the result of the merging of two Innovative Penetration Testing live Linux distributions Whax and Auditor, combining the best features from both distributions, and paying special attention to small details, this is probably the best version of either distributions to ever come out.

Based on SLAX (Slackware), BackTrack provides user modularity. This means the distribution can be easily customised by the user to include personal scripts, additional tools, customised kernels, etc.

http://www.remote-exploit.org/index.php/BackTrack

2. Operator

Operator is a very fully featured LiveCD totally oriented around network security (with open source tools of course).

Operator is a complete Linux (Debian) distribution that runs from a single bootable CD and runs entirely in RAM. The Operator contains an extensive set of Open Source network security tools that can be used for monitoring and discovering networks. This virtually can turn any PC into a network security pen-testing device without having to install any software. Operator also contains a set of computer forensic and data recovery tools that can be used to assist you in data retrieval on the local system.

http://www.ussysadmin.com/operator/

3. PHLAK

PHLAK or [P]rofessional [H]acker?s [L]inux [A]ssault [K]it is a modular live security Linux distribution (a.k.a LiveCD). PHLAK comes with two light gui?s (fluxbox and XFCE4), many security tools, and a spiral notebook full of security documentation. PHLAK is a derivative of Morphix, created by Alex de Landgraaf.

Mainly based around Penetration Testing, PHLAK is a must have for any pro hacker/pen-tester.

http://www.phlak.org/modules/mydownloads/

4. Auditor

Auditor although now underway merging with WHax is still an excellent choice.

The Auditor security collection is a Live-System based on KNOPPIX. With no installation whatsoever, the analysis platform is started directly from the CD-Rom and is fully accessible within minutes. Independent of the hardware in use, the Auditor security collection offers a standardised working environment, so that the build-up of know-how and remote support is made easier.

http://www.remote-exploit.org/index.php/Auditor_mirrors

5. L.A.S Linux

L.A.S Linux or Local Area Security has been around quite some time aswell, although development has been a bit slow lately it?s still a useful CD to have. It has always aimed to fit on a MiniCD (180MB).

Local Area Security Linux is a ?Live CD? distribution with a strong emphasis on security tools and small footprint. We currently have 2 different versions of L.A.S. to fit two specific needs - MAIN and SECSERV. This project is released under the terms of GPL.

http://www.localareasecurity.com/download

6. Knoppix-STD

STD is a Linux-based Security Tool. Actually, it is a collection of hundreds if not thousands of open source security tools. It's a Live Linux Distro, which means it runs from a bootable CD in memory without changing the native operating system of the host computer. Its sole purpose in life is to put as many security tools at your disposal with as slick an interface as it can.

http://www.knoppix-std.org/download.html

7. Helix

Helix is more on the forensics and incident response side than the networking or pen-testing side. Still a very useful tool to carry.

Helix is a customized distribution of the Knoppix Live Linux CD. Helix is more than just a bootable live CD. You can still boot into a customized Linux environment that includes customized linux kernels, excellent hardware detection and many applications dedicated to Incident Response and Forensics.

http://www.e-fense.com/helix/

8. F.I.R.E

A little out of date, but still considered the strongest bootable forensics solution (of the open-source kind). Also has a few pen-testing tools on it.

FIRE is a portable bootable cdrom based distribution with the goal of providing an immediate environment to perform forensic analysis, incident response, data recovery, virus scanning and vulnerability assessment.

http://fire.dmzs.com/

9. nUbuntu

nUbuntu or Network Ubuntu is fairly much a newcomer in the LiveCD arena as Ubuntu, on which it is based, is pretty new itself.

The main goal of nUbuntu is to create a distribution which is derived from the Ubuntu distribution, and add packages related to security testing, and remove unneeded packages, such as Gnome, Openoffice.org, and Evolution. nUbuntu is the result of an idea two people had to create a new distribution for the learning experience.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=nubuntu

10. INSERT Rescue Security Toolkit


A strong all around contender with no particular focus on any area (has network analysis, disaster recovery, antivirus, forensics and so-on).

INSERT is a complete, bootable linux system. It comes with a graphical user interface running the fluxbox window manager while still being sufficiently small to fit on a credit card-sized CD-ROM.

http://www.inside-security.de/insert_en.html

Touchtable wonder

Fascinating Technology!!