If you are adept enough to install a dual boot setup with Linux, you certainly know how to remove trial and ad offerings that most new PCs ship with. No 'deptitude required. The Linux MINT installer told me it detected a Windows 7 installation and asked one question - whether to preserve the other OS or kill it - and created the dual boot installation for me when I said "preserve it". If I had not resized the slider, Win7 would have had half the disk, and Mint the other half. In my previous Linux experiences, most of the distributions assassinated the existing OS without asking permission. This refinement makes Mint a good distribution for anyone who wants to keep an existing Windows setup because they have some Windows-only software. Yes, removing the bundled "crapware" is easy. But, how would you remove the LENOVO ad that LENOVO inserted into the middle of the installation procedure? Without borking the install? It was a pointy-clicky minimal intervention required kind of installation, which is not true of all Linux distros. Mint is worth posting about in areas where novices hang out . Yes, I can get Libre Office, the GIMP, and all the rest for Windows by downloading and installing them ... the point is that I didn't have to. They "came with" the OS, as usual. Unless I need to do something most users don't, such as video editing, I had not only a working OS, but a system that could do real work with no further effort. Getting more software for Linux is usually just opening the software installer and clicking "Install" in what you want. I'm not sure what you've accomplished is an improvement and not just a change. Read the threads here about browser hijacking and viruses and malware and bad links and google for zero day exploits in Windows and IE. It's definitely an improvement, and perhaps knowing there is a easy to install Linux version out there may help someone get into a safer computing environment. Or update the OS on an old machine to get a couple more years out of it? Or get the whole office on a single OS without spending oodles of money? ========== NOTE: I'm a long-time Linux fan. The last Windows OS I installed as the primary OS on a personal machine was Windows 95, although various jobs have had Windows on the office computers. I have Windows only because some software I have to run can't work under WINE.

Claims to have had his Linux gateway hacked by someone using an "SSH over an unusual port number". It's like shooting yourself in the butt ... hard to do and you have to do several foolish things in a row. He would have to have had an ssh server installed, which most Linux distros don't do by default unless you select "set me up a server" from your install options. I just checked, and I have a client, but not the server. He would have had to have deliberately configured to answer requests on unusual port numbers instead of silently ignoring them. The default ports are what you get on a vanilla install. It would have to be answering SSH requests over the Internet, not sitting behind a router, unless that router was also deliberately configured to allow unusual port numbers. ========= To check, open your Software manager or Synaptic and look for openssh ... if it's not installed it can't be hacked.

"Multi-platform attacks are rare, but they represent a considerable evolution to be considered. Multi-platform malware represents a great evolution for cyber crime because they provide the opportunity for an attacker to infect a greater number of machines. The mechanism is simple: Using a JAR, the malware is able to identify the OS and then download the right files to infect the targeted machine. After identifying the type of operating system a unit is running, a Java class file will download the appropriate malware, with the purpose to open a backdoor to allow remote access to the machine. This isn't the first multi-platform malware detected. In 2010 for example the Boonana malware was detected which also used a malicious Java applet to spread itself. Malware of this type will increase in number in coming months, and no platform is immune, so it is desirable that internet users are aware of the threat and take appropriate precautions. A backdoor trojan differs from a trojan in that it also opens a backdoor to your system. They're also sometimes call Remote Access Trojans (RAT). These are the most widespread and also the most dangerous type of trojan. They are so dangerous because the have the potential to allow remote adminstration of your system. As if a hacker were sitting at your keyboard, only worse. There's almost no limit to what they can do. Some common uses: 1 Use your system and Internet connection to send spam (yes, the majority of spam is now generated by infected systems). 2 Steal your online and offline passwords, credit card numbers, address, phone number, and other information stored on your computer that could be used for identity theft, or other financial fraud. 3 Log your activity, read email, view and download contents of documents, pictures, videos and other private data. 4 Use your computer and Internet connection, in conjunction with others to launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Modify system files, disable antivirus, delete files, change system settings, to cover tracks, or just to wreak havoc. Backdoor:W32/GetShell.A is the Windows-specific payload of Trojan-Downloader:Java/GetShell.A, a malicious Java applet that detects your OS and installs an appropriate type of backdoor Trojan. Backdoor:W32/GetShell.A is responsible for the same dangers that are common to most backdoor Trojans, including opening up your PC to unwanted control by third parties, disabling or reducing your computers security features and, potentially, downloading additional PC threats or stealing private information. Keep your Computer up dated, practice safe surfing habits as always.. Joe

You are in the right place Debian is the overall best bet for a server that is what I have been running now for over 7 years and it never burps unless there is a power outage.