Linux in general, downloading

Generally yes. As far as I know, there aren't currently any Linux Viruses in the wild. There exist a few 'proof of concept' type, Viruses, but AFAIK, those vulnerabilities have been fixed.

Again, you're taking the windows approach. Virtually all Linux software is available for free, through the package repositories. There are literally thousands of free and open source apps. There are some exotic programs that cost money, but those are usually ports of windows software, and there's usually an open source alternative.

 

BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT!!!!

More or less everything that was frustrating me about using the Aspire One has been solved by your advice here. Thank you!

 

Paul,

I've been out of town/offline for a few days. You can create a Gmail account (with the same username to the left side of the @ sign if someone else isn't already using it), but the part at the right will be gmail.com ; [email protected]. Your existing e-mail account should have an option to forward mail to another address; e.g. [email protected]. I retired recently, and although I get to retain my old e-mail account, I'm trying to move all my non-work mail over to Gmail. I genuinely wish I had done this several years ago; Gmail is probably the best mail client I have used to date, and includes 8gb of space -- which I don't expect to fill in my lifetime. Gmail has very good spam filtering.

I just searched this forum, and was surprised that I didn't find any reference to a series of four (to date) articles by Chris Bidmead, "The Netbook Newbie's Guide to Linux" : http://search.reghardware.co.uk/?author=Chris Bidmead . This strikes me as the best starting point to date for this topic, as Bidmead assumes no prior Unix knowledge. The general problem with most Linux netbooks seems to be that the vendors are selling them as locked down "appliances" -- this may be OK for the casual user who is satisfied with what comes with the box, but it's like waving the proverbial red flag in front of a bull to a Unix geek. Windows users like you fall in a no-man's land between the two; you want to install stuff, but Acer has hidden the keys to the door.

Partly this is due to the nature of Unix. A long time ago, I read a book called "The Unix Philosophy," in which the author, Mike Gancarz, used a metaphor to compare Unix with another operating: "By contrast, the UNIX system effectively hands the uninitiated user an assault rifle, plugs in twenty rounds, and points it at his foot...." Acer is just trying to protect you from yourself! Gancarz has written a second book, "Linux and the Unix Philosopy," which sounds like it's equally good -- although I balk at paying $36.00 -- fortunately a copy is available in my library.

After a weekend of playing around with this thing (and finally getting under the hood), I am tickled pink by the immense malleability of the underlying software, Be warned that Linux can be addictive. My next steps are going to be creating a recovery USB drive with the delivered software, and then creating a second USB drive for backups. Then, I will worry less about shooting myself in the foot. :idea:

 

Thanks Libssd, you are an excellent non-geeky teacher and I will persevere, Regards Paul

 

I received the following response from Acer, which makes me feel a little better about the problems I was experiencing last week:

We are aware that the driver download site is experiencing technical difficulties and temporarily unavailable. Our server is currently having a service maintenance and updating the database. Please try to check the website from time to time.

 

Awww, how kind of you. I worked in the library automation field for almost 30 years, and toward the end, I realized that the technical part of my job was much less important than being a technology therapist for the library staff. It's a constant challenge to describe things clearly, without jargon, and without assuming embedded knowledge. It's all trivial if you know the secret handshake; maddeningly frustrating if you don't.

 

@ Libssd.

i pm'd you but judging by this:

I assume you solved all your AA1, Linpus probs?

I love the bit i quoted from your post ... is there a copyright on it?

 

Under American law, copyright is automatic, but I have no objections, although I suspect that I may have read a quote similar to this at one time. This is the first contact I've ever had from Malta, a place that has always fascinated me. Latinate/Semitic language, the only one written in Roman characters.