Hacked again. Had enough?

[smhardesty]

After following this thread, I'm surprised at a couple of things. First, I'm surprised by the number of guys that are as anti-Facebook as I am. I guess maybe I shouldn't be considering the high percentage of "grumpy old men" on this forum. The older generation seems to have a greater contempt of social media sites and apps. 

Secondly, I'm really surprised at the number of guys that have taken steps to protect their computers and protect their personal info and data. This hasn't always been the case for sure. Thinking back to the days of Win95 and Win98 brings back memories of badly infected PCs, no anti-virus protection installed,  no firewalls, and 15 to 20 minute lectures on why these things are important. 

I will venture out on a limb and say that you guys are still the exception and not the rule. The younger generation that primarily use their phones for all things technical run with no protection at all. Although I know nothing at all about the new touchscreen PCs and not a lot about netbooks and Chromebooks, I understand that there is usually no protection run on these. That info came to me from a couple of buddies still in the PC business. I trust they are right. 

[peteski]

I'm not that old, tech-savvy, Unix-literate, employed in high-tech, and I'm not on Facebooks, Twiddles, Snapcats or any other social media. Don't own or want a smart phone. I get my socializing done in online groups and forums. I also have machines running Win 98 SE (not really used anymore for going outside of my LAN), Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 10 at work.  I practice safe computing (basically careful where I go and what I open). Have been hack-free for many years. Or at least I think  have been hack-free.

I also heard that many people (in multiple age groups) are closing their accounts and leaving FB.  But that is too late for them, since FB already has all of their info. 

Edited October 3, 2018 by peteski

[smhardesty]

8 minutes ago, peteski said:

I also heard that many people (in multiple age groups) are closing their accounts and leaving FB.  But that is too late for them, since FB already has all of their info. 

Yep. Much too late. They're closing the barn door after the horse done left.

If you're Unix literate, we've got to do something about all those Windows machines. Start with the Win98 SE machine. Wipe the drive, then install Linux Lite. That will turn that machine into a once again fully useable box. It'll do twice the work in half the time, be virus proof, for all practical purposes, and allow you to make further use of a PC that M$ has made obsolete.

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 hours ago, smhardesty said:

...Wipe the drive, then install Linux Lite. That will turn that machine into a once again fully useable box. It'll do twice the work in half the time, be virus proof, for all practical purposes, and allow you to make further use of a PC that M$ has made obsolete.

What's your take on the Linux developers who aren't too happy about the new "code of conduct", and are making noises about rescinding some of their code, possibly crippling the kernel?

Edited October 3, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[smhardesty]

5 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

What's your take on the Linux developers who aren't too happy about the new "code of conduct", and are making noises about rescinding some of their code, possibly crippling the kernel?

I'll have to be very careful in answering your question. It would be VERY easy to cross a line when discussing the new "Code of Conduct". First, even if certain developers did attempt to cripple the kernel it wouldn't take long for things to get ironed out in at least some circles. I don't think any one person, or any one sub-group of people would ever be able to "kill" future kernel development. Yeah, things might be a bit touchy for a while and kernel updates might be slow in coming, but I don't think it's possible to kill Linux (but if they did, I'd sell my computers).

As for the whole SJW movement and it's appearance in Linux circles, I hate it. I hate politically correct mandates in general. In the simplest form, I always use this analogy: It's my store. Why should you tell me who to hire and who to serve? But I'm also one of those guys that would hire the best qualified individual regardless of gender, race, religion, etc, etc. I think we have a society of people that get their feelings hurt too easily as well as one that goes WAY overboard to resolve a conflict. Whatever happened to saying you're sorry, shaking hands, and moving on?

I realize this will probably get whacked, but I'm not intending for any individual to be offended. Just stating an opinion.

Edited October 3, 2018 by smhardesty

[peteski]

16 hours ago, smhardesty said:

Yep. Much too late. They're closing the barn door after the horse done left.

If you're Unix literate, we've got to do something about all those Windows machines. Start with the Win98 SE machine. Wipe the drive, then install Linux Lite. That will turn that machine into a once again fully useable box. It'll do twice the work in half the time, be virus proof, for all practical purposes, and allow you to make further use of a PC that M$ has made obsolete.

The Win98 SE machine is used strictly to run may Alps Micro Dry printer and old version of Corel Draw I use for designing decal artwork and other things. It works, it is safe (it has been for decades), there is no need to do anything about it.  I have full backups (and even the install disks) and it is running on old hardware.  It ain't broke, so I'm not fixin' . There is nothing on that machine that would be irreplaceable or worth anything to hackers. Plus there are no new drivers for the Alps printer.  I roll my eyes at droves of people who are hell bent on updating their electronic devices and the software to the latest and greatest.  Sorry.

[Mike C]

I'm sure glad I don't belong to Face-book.

[webestang]

My nephew just started working at FB.