# Lifestyles & Discussion > Privacy & Data Security >  Ubuntu and Kali

## westkyle

I'm posting from my first usage of a linux distro, Ubuntu.  Getting it to dual boot with my win 8 computer was a slight pain in the ass, yet after getting it going it is pretty cool.  I was interested in data security and penetration testing, so I'm going to try and triple boot with Kali as well.  If anyone has any comments or pointers on using linux, please let me know.  What cool things can I do with Ubuntu?

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## presence

> What cool things can I do with Ubuntu?


It would be easier to find the cool things you can't do. 



The only real limitations I've run into is the latest and greatest video games... and odd ball peripheral devices like cameras etc are sometimes hard to recognize.

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## CPUd

this, then sit back and watch:


```
$ telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl
```

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## jeffro97

Definitely become well aquainted with Ubuntu Forums. That'll solve a lot of problems you have in the future. For the most part, any issue you'll have, someone else has already had.

Also, a lot of things you can do under the hood through the terminal, but I urge extreme caution.

And for the love of god, get Ubuntu Restricted Extras and Synaptic Package Manager from the Software Center. Both are must haves.

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## CPUd

To get rid of Ubuntu's Unity desktop and go back to classic gnome:

sudo apt-get install gnome-panel

then log out, and click the icon on the login screen that looks something like:

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## westkyle

On windows now.  I got Kali installed last night which took a while and I still have to load Kali with "nomodeset" parameter till I figure out how to fix the graphic driver like I did on Ubuntu.  I couldn't get my wireless card configured with Kali during installation.  I don't think it can capture packets and such.

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## westkyle

> this, then sit back and watch:
> 
> 
> ```
> $ telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl
> ```


Is this some type of Christmas thing?

EDIT: lol STARWARS!!!!!

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## jeffro97

> On windows now.  I got Kali installed last night which took a while and I still have to load Kali with "nomodeset" parameter till I figure out how to fix the graphic driver like I did on Ubuntu.  I couldn't get my wireless card configured with Kali during installation.  I don't think it can capture packets and such.


Have you checked to see whether your card is supported in Ubuntu? I know there are some cards that aren't recognizable. Could've sworn there was a link somewhere in the UbuntuForums with a list of that stuff. Maybe in one of the General Hardware one's. I can't find it.

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## GunnyFreedom

SOmeone familiar with Ubuntu please him how to disable the spyware that ships with Ubuntu from the factory.  I know it has an "off" button, but since I do not have Ubuntu I cannot tell him where that off button is.

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## VIDEODROME

If you are interested in Security or Pentesting, you could start by learning to setup Nessus.  

http://www.tenable.com/blog/installi...-on-kali-linux


Try running the packet sniffer TCPdump


Try running the port scanner Nmap.   Or install the graphical version Zenmap.  It's probably already in Kali.  


Try typing this in the terminal:  whois ronpaulforums.com

It should kickout a bunch of info about the site like Domain Registration


In Kali Linux, checkout The Social Engineering Toolkit.   I also recommend reading up on Ettercap.  

Lastly, if you have an encrypted Access Point, try using Kali to run a terminal program called Wifite.  I think it can auto-break WEP or snatch the encrypted WPA2 password.  You could try to crack the Hash, but it could take months or years.

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## GunnyFreedom

If you upgrade to "Unity 8" it apparently removes the controversial factory spyware.

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## VIDEODROME

Maybe just run Linux Mint?

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## torchbearer

Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon. Get it, it is the windows replacement.

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## torchbearer

> Maybe just run Linux Mint?



great minds.
I have more eye candy on my mint, than win 8 has. I even have an animated login theme.

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## GunnyFreedom

> Maybe just run Linux Mint?


Why bother to install a whole 'nuther OS when the offending spyware 1) can just be turned off, and 2) has been removed from the latest version of their "Unity?" Clearly he likes Ubuntu.  Other than that weird spyware thing there isn't really anything WRONG with Ubuntu.  Just turn the damn thing off, or make sure you don't have it in your install.  I personally think Mint is better, but he's already got Ubuntu installed.  :shrug:

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## presence

I run Lubuntu on all my machines (4).  Its kind of like windows98 but freeware with community support.  Zero eye candy.  Super fast.  Secure. No frills.  Installs on virtually anything new or old.

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## VIDEODROME

Installing Linux Mint would also swap out the desktop environment for Mate, Cinnamon.  or even have a Xfce.  

Or really dive into learning Linux and install Debian.

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## VIDEODROME

> I run Lubuntu on all my machines (4).  Its kind of like windows98 but freeware with community support.  Zero eye candy.  Super fast.  Secure. No frills.


Ever try LXLE?  It's a nice respin of Lubuntu.

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## torchbearer

> I run Lubuntu on all my machines (4).  Its kind of like windows98 but freeware with community support.  Zero eye candy.  Super fast.  Secure. No frills.  Installs on virtually anything new or old.


Sounds like a Lubuntu type of guy.
Got old machines? Lubuntu them.

Want a cadillac, Mint.

Want stream line, debian standard.

want some strange, freebsd.

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## VIDEODROME



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## presence

> Sounds like a Lubuntu type of guy.
> Got old machines? Lubuntu them.
> 
> Want a cadillac, Mint.


I might have to test drive dual boot a minty cadillac one day.  This computer probably wouldn't even notice the load.

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## pcosmar

How did you get it to Dual Boot?

The only way I have been able to,, is to change boot options in bios..
And then can boot one or the other.. 

Is there something I missed (haven't tried again for a while)??

UEFI

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## presence

> How did you get it to Dual Boot?
> 
> The only way I have been able to,, is to change boot options in bios..
> And then can boot one or the other.. 
> 
> Is there something I missed (haven't tried again for a while)??
> 
> UEFI


"one or the other" is dual boot.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/75279...ngside-lubuntu
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1622557

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## TheCount

> Sounds like a Lubuntu type of guy.
> Got old machines? Lubuntu them.
> 
> Want a cadillac, Mint.
> 
> Want stream line, debian standard.
> 
> want some strange, freebsd.


There's a friendly variant of freebsd called PC-BSD.  It's pretty good.

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## presence

> How did you get it to Dual Boot?
> 
> The only way I have been able to, is to change boot options in bios.
> 
> And then can boot one or the other.
> 
> Is there something I missed?





> Having two operating systems installed — and choosing between them at boot time — is known as “dual-booting.”


http://www.howtogeek.com/187789/dual...your-computer/


There's no way (that I know) to just flash from one OS's desktop to the other OS without restart.

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## pcosmar

> "one or the other" is dual boot.
> 
> http://askubuntu.com/questions/75279...ngside-lubuntu
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1622557


UEFI Or Legacy Bios.

I dual boot win 7 and PCLinuxOS.
I don't have to go into bios and change it every time I change Operating systems.

I have tried that with a few win 8 machines. They will not do it,, unless there is something new,,

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## pcosmar

> [
> 
> 
> There's no way (that I know) to just flash from one OS's desktop to the other OS without restart.


I can reboot from one to the other. I do not have to go into Bios options and change the bios settings.

The problem is the Windows *Secure Boot* that is built into the freakin' motherboards.

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## torchbearer

> I can reboot from one to the other. I do not have to go into Bios options and change the bios settings.
> 
> The problem is the Windows *Secure Boot* that is built into the freakin' motherboards.



All secure boots I've seen have been disabled in bios.

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## VIDEODROME

> There's a friendly variant of freebsd called PC-BSD.  It's pretty good.


FreeBSD isn't to bad except for hardware support can be a pain in the ass.  Especially for wireless cards or even Wifi in general.  I really wish the BSDs had Network Manager instead of just the weird Wifimgr.  

Anyway, if you want a similar experience, there is always Slackware.

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## GunnyFreedom

> http://www.howtogeek.com/187789/dual...your-computer/
> 
> 
> There's no way (that I know) to just flash from one OS's desktop to the other OS without restart.


Virtual Machines will do that.  Technically you are in one OS the whole time and spinning off VM's with other OSes running in them, but aside from running juuuust a little slower than purely native that's exactly the effect, flashing from one OS's desktop to another like switching users in *ux.

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## pcosmar

> FreeBSD isn't to bad except for hardware support can be a pain in the ass.  Especially for wireless cards or even Wifi in general.  I really wish the BSDs had Network Manager instead of just the weird Wifimgr.  
> 
> Anyway, if you want a similar experience, there is always Slackware.


I love Slack. (it was my first)

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## pcosmar

> All secure boots I've seen have been disabled in bios.


Disabling Secure Boot (UEFI) and using Legacy Bios  Win 8 won't boot.. (No operating system error)
Must have UEFI 

Linux works fine on legacy,, but not UEFI

Until someone builds a new boot loader,, (and they may have) 
I am curious. I would like to load a laptop to dual boot, but as yet it was unpossible.

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## TheCount

A small handful of mainstream linux distros work with UEFI.

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## brandon

```
$ traceroute ronpaulforums.com
```

Follow the path your data packets take to get from your computer to the servers here.

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## pcosmar

> A small handful of mainstream linux distros work with UEFI.


3.
And what bootloader do they use?
That article is a sales pitch for UEFI,, which is unnecessary and unwanted by many.

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## GunnyFreedom

> A small handful of mainstream linux distros work with UEFI.





> 3.
> And what bootloader do they use?
> That article is a sales pitch for UEFI,, which is unnecessary and unwanted by many.


Although true, I imagine the original idea behind *ux on UEFI was probably simply to allow dual boot with 8 and 10.

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## westkyle

> Disabling Secure Boot (UEFI) and using Legacy Bios  Win 8 won't boot.. (No operating system error)
> Must have UEFI 
> 
> Linux works fine on legacy,, but not UEFI
> 
> Until someone builds a new boot loader,, (and they may have) 
> I am curious. I would like to load a laptop to dual boot, but as yet it was unpossible.


What are all of your system specs?  I had windows 8 when I was able to triple boot Ubuntu, Kali, and win 8.  I started out with windows as my first OS.  There are a ton of guides out there.  My only problem is I couldn't figure out how to get a Mac OS working on a virtual machine on my computer.  Mostly due to my processor not being an intel, I believe.

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## pcosmar

> What are all of your system specs?  I had windows 8 when I was able to triple boot Ubuntu, Kali, and win 8.  I started out with windows as my first OS.  There are a ton of guides out there.  My only problem is I couldn't figure out how to get a Mac OS working on a virtual machine on my computer.  Mostly due to my processor not being an intel, I believe.


System specs are irrelevant.. 
How do you get Linux to Boot on UEFI,?, Win8 will not boot on Legacy Bios.

So what boot loader do you use to boot Linux ?

or is there some yet unknown or new Kernel that will do so?
You say you did it,,  What Bootloader?

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## TheCount

Ubuntu will boot in UEFI.

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## pcosmar

> Ubuntu will boot in UEFI.


And again,,,
*What Boot Loader?*

It is a simple question..

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## TheCount

grub

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## GunnyFreedom

> System specs are irrelevant.. 
> How do you get Linux to Boot on UEFI,?, Win8 will not boot on Legacy Bios.
> 
> So what boot loader do you use to boot Linux ?
> 
> or is there some yet unknown or new Kernel that will do so?
> You say you did it,,  What Bootloader?


I know what you are talking about.  I would tell you except I have zero use for UEFI and I don't know which bootloader works in the environment.  I don't deal with Windows anything, but I am considering scaring up an old copy of XP Pro (I inherited an XP Pro license on a license-integral laptop) just for field testing purposes on the job.

Also, this laptop has a legit serial port, which makes fiddling switches and firewalls a dream.


ETA




> grub


There.  Someone was listening.

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## GunnyFreedom

> There's a friendly variant of freebsd called PC-BSD.  It's pretty good.


OK now I'm very very interested. 

I loaded FreeBSD on the laptop, haven't done too much with it.  It's been too finicky for my tastes to be honest.  I was thinking about going with another distro.  It's a Dell Lattitude D620 I got mostly because it was the most advanced laptop I could find with a proper serial port, and I wanted it for programming network devices.  So the whole point is a network technician laptop.  One of my most useful software tool array for Windows networks, is a CD that live-boots into FreeBSD so I was going to make that my environment.

Also open to other distro suggestions, but I do wonder if something like Mint would be too heavy for this laptop....

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## VIDEODROME

Into firewalls Gunny?  I recently experimented with pfSense a little bit which is built from FreeBSD.

pfSense is supposed to be like an open source OS dedicated to being a Firewall / Router.  It even has a package manager for add-ons like SNORT.  Or it can act as a VPN.

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## GunnyFreedom

> Into firewalls Gunny?  I recently experimented with pfSense a little bit which is built from FreeBSD.
> 
> pfSense is supposed to be like an open source OS dedicated to being a Firewall / Router.  It even has a package manager for add-ons like SNORT.  Or it can act as a VPN.


I'm not trying to make my laptop behave like a network device, I am trying to use my laptop to troubleshoot, configure, and install network devices.  Also, network and PC troubleshooting and so on.

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## pcosmar

> grub


NOPE.

I use GRUB. I can tell you it absolutely does not work. I used LILO for a long time,,but have used GRUB for several years.

Now,, I have heard of a "GRUB2 that is attempting to address this problem,, but it is not ready for prime time.

As yet,, I find a few articles that say it can be done (or conceivably could be done) 

And yet there are many more that are about failure.

UEFI was created to prevent Linux from running on these machines. That will fail,, but is is a pita presently.

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## westkyle

> NOPE.
> 
> I use GRUB. I can tell you it absolutely does not work. I used LILO for a long time,,but have used GRUB for several years.
> 
> Now,, I have heard of a "GRUB2 that is attempting to address this problem,, but it is not ready for prime time.
> 
> As yet,, I find a few articles that say it can be done (or conceivably could be done) 
> 
> And yet there are many more that are about failure.
> ...


I disabled UEFI in the bios before my installation.  I use grub2 which came with my Ubuntu installation and have had no problems.

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## FunkBuddha

> I'm not trying to make my laptop behave like a network device, I am trying to use my laptop to troubleshoot, configure, and install network devices.  Also, network and PC troubleshooting and so on.


As a Network Engineer by trade, I gave up on trying to keep a machine with a serial port. I just keep several of these around in various places.

http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-RS-23...+2303+trendnet

The pl-2303 usb to serial chipset is compatible with just about anything.

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## pcosmar

> I disabled UEFI in the bios before my installation.  I use grub2 which came with my Ubuntu installation and have had no problems.


well,, it seems that a few have gotten GRUB2 to work,,  I may have to install ubuntu to the laptop.

Then conceivably,, I could wipe it and install my OS of choice.

Oh,, wait..
You disabled UEFI (how do you boot windows?)

Then it is not loading it as UEFI.. It is loading Legacy.

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## VIDEODROME

Does this work with Wubi maybe?

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## TheCount

> NOPE.


Whatever makes you feel good about yourself.

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## fisharmor

> Installing Linux Mint would also swap out the desktop environment for Mate, Cinnamon. or even have a Xfce.


You can do this with any distro.  There is only one Linux - in a couple thousand different varieties.

Just 'apt-get install (icewm|e17|ratpoison)' and it should do all the heavy lifting for you: there should be an option to use each in the login screen.

(For a real trip, try out ratpoison.)




> Getting it to dual boot with my win 8 computer was a slight pain in the ass,


Well, here's hoping you quickly get to the point of not bothering.

My advice would be to get a 16 or 32gb thumbdrive and google how to get the iso to boot from *it*.  Then you can test drive whatever you want, and when you're ready to slick the drive, you'll know what you want.

I keep a Mint thumbdrive around where I've actually installed the OS to the usb stick... so I can write back to it... and I've installed a couple free virus scanners on it that will operate on NTFS, so when a layman comes to me with a virus problem I don't even have to boot it into Winblows.




> What cool things can I do with Ubuntu?




The thing you should do and do as well as you can is learn the command line, as soon as possible.
Also learn vim.  AFAIK you can still go to the command line and type "vimtutor" and it will get you running.
If you're writing code, vim is the single greatest text editor in history.
These things are retro, but they're not just retro and quaint.... they're retro and "My God, the guys who did this were like Freeman Dyson smart".

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## pcosmar

> Whatever makes you feel good about yourself.


nothing to do with feelings

it is not even for my Laptop,, but a favor for someone else.

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## westkyle

Yeah it should be loading legacy then.  All I know is I made a partition for my new Ubuntu installation and restarted my computer to run off a usb with Ubuntu on it.  I had to load with -nomodeset, but after that I had drivers installed in no time and it worked fine.  I followed some youtube tutorial.  If I can answer any questions to help; I 'd be glad to.

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## TheCount

> nothing to do with feelings
> 
> it is not even for my Laptop,, but a favor for someone else.


Well, I'm sure you've seen all the pages on booting UEFI on the Ubuntu wiki, then. Y'know, using grub.

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## pcosmar

> Well, I'm sure you've seen all the pages on booting UEFI on the Ubuntu wiki, then. Y'know, using grub.


Using GRUB2,,, and it is still experimental in my distro.. It has worked for some,,, it fails some.
yes,, i do read other forums.  Not ubuntu,, I don't care for it.

I also see in my searches,, a lot of ubuntu users having problems with it. so perhaps it is not all that easy peasy.

I am waiting for bugs to be worked out.

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## GunnyFreedom

> As a Network Engineer by trade, I gave up on trying to keep a machine with a serial port. I just keep several of these around in various places.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-RS-23...+2303+trendnet
> 
> The pl-2303 usb to serial chipset is compatible with just about anything.


After buying literally four of those things and they all failed, and I had to leave a job undone, I will stick with what I know works. I cannot conscience equipment failures that lead to job failures. I've had 6 different serial dongles, and out of those 6, one of them worked once before it quit. 

Fk that.

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## TomKat

> Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon. Get it, it is the windows replacement.


I had ubuntu years back and I loved it. Switched to Linux Mint a few years ago and just updated to 17.1 a few months back. With ubuntu I had some problems but like it was said "get to know the ubuntu forums", they are some of the nicest people out there and always willing to help not to mention that if you search the forums, usually someone has had the problem before. 

With linux mint I have never had a problem and haven't found anything that I can't run/do which kinda sucks because one of my favorite things to do is figure out the fix using the terminal (not like I know what I am doing but copy/paste and the forums are my friend while there). 

I don't think it is recommended but since I started using linux way back when I have not used antivirus software and have had no problems at all (I also have no problem reseting to 00s and reinstalling the os and I keep backup files of important stuff on multiple external drives). I have no problem starting over because with windows I always used antivirus software yet for some reason would get bluescreens and virus's (viri?) and have to reset to 00s which is how I learned to backup things that need backed up. Lol!.

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## GunnyFreedom

Burn me once shame on you. Burn me twice shame on me. Burn me six times and wtf is wrong with me? 

I'm glad your serial dongles worked. Out of the six I bought only one worked and it worked once before it quit. All different makers. So I said f- that. I'll go through more money buying a dozen adapters until I get one that works for the one job before it does, than what I would get paid on the job. Lol

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## FunkBuddha

> Burn me once shame on you. Burn me twice shame on me. Burn me six times and wtf is wrong with me? 
> 
> I'm glad your serial dongles worked. Out of the six I bought only one worked and it worked once before it quit. All different makers. So I said f- that. I'll go through more money buying a dozen adapters until I get one that works for the one job before it does, than what I would get paid on the job. Lol


Like I said, I went through the same $#@! until I found the pl-2303s.  They've worked flawlessly in everything I've plugged them into. If you haven't tried a pl-2303, try the trendnet and see how it works for you. It's way easier than carrying around two laptops (I've done that too).

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## TheCount

New version of mint works on UEFI.  Giving it a whirl on my newer laptop.   Mint doesn't play well on my older laptop.

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## brushfire

http://crunchbang.org

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## torchbearer

> Into firewalls Gunny?  I recently experimented with pfSense a little bit which is built from FreeBSD.
> 
> pfSense is supposed to be like an open source OS dedicated to being a Firewall / Router.  It even has a package manager for add-ons like SNORT.  Or it can act as a VPN.



get a watchguard xtm 5 on ebay, it has an x86 processor and flash card. you can flash pfsense to the flash card and run it on the watchguard hardware.

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## P3ter_Griffin

My Windows 10 lappy BSODed yesterday (thank goodness) I only had 3 out of the 4 recovery disks (thank goodness) so now I'm running Ubuntu MATE 15.10.  We ran linux mint debian on my gf's old laptop but I think the machine was way underpowered for it so it was a bit of a turn off for our first experience.  MATE has been awesome, its quick and pretty and not connecting to M$ servers 5000 times a day.

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## CPUd

I'm thinking about MATE for some of my older systems and a laptop that currently runs Xubuntu.  Even on my newer systems, the first thing I do is strip it down and install the classic Gnome.

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## P3ter_Griffin

> I'm thinking about MATE for some of my older systems and a laptop that currently runs Xubuntu.  Even on my newer systems, the first thing I do is strip it down and install the classic Gnome.


That would be a little over my tech level at this point.  I'm doing the codeacademy pro and I see that the 5th course is on command prompt so hopefully that will give me some insights on navigating and modifying my OSs.  When I was looking up which distro to use I saw that part of why MATE is good for lower end stuff is that it isn't composited.  I had to look it up but my take is that compositing is essentially taking a snapshot of the different windows/instances/workspaces that you have open so you can navigate between them and do all sorts of fancy $#@! that I just didn't care about at all.  It is pretty nice, they have 4 boxes in the bottom right of the screen that are 4 workstations so you can still navigate between workstations just without the imagery and fancyness.  If that'll save me some battery and processing power count me in.   Pretty cool.

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## Rad

Once you go slack you never go back  http://www.slackware.com/

Besides RTFM you can visit here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/

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