An Easier Computer: "SimplicITy Computer"

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I just heard about a new simpler computer designed to appeal to the non-technical population. It's for sale in the UK.

See the website for SimplicITy Computers here:
http://www.discount-age.co.uk/simplic...

See the article here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology...

"The screens of new PCs have just six buttons, allowing technology-shy users to surf the internet, send emails and watch videos without having to navigate around cluttered desktops."

"The computers are powered by the Linux operating system, an 'open source' alternative to Microsoft Windows that allows software programmers the freedom to create alternate desktops."

From the Simplicity webpage:
"The simplicITy computer is powered by Eldy and runs the Linux Mint operating system. Linux Mint and Eldy are far more immune to viruses, spyware and Trojans and other security threats than other systems. Best of all, Linux Mint is completely free, as are all the applications, as well as all updates and upgrades to future versions."

It had to happen sooner or later! :)

[Jim]

Sounds like the Web TV (or is it MSN TV?), sort of. My uncle's girlfriend uses that. She doesn't/can't write much, but gets great pictures of her great-grandkids & such very easily.

As for Linux not getting viruses & trojans, I look at patch lists all the time & Linux kernels have as many problems as MACs & PCs. Because most computers are Windows, over 90%, hackers go for them. If they think they can scam a lot of people with Simplicity computers, trust me, they'll start sending them out.

I'm not saying Microsoft security is great, but it really isn't too terrible. They just have a huge bulls eye painted on them.

The biggest problem is in the wetware (human). If they say run a program, a computer will run it. Since the human doesn't know everything the program does, if they're told it's a video & it shows them pictures, they're happy. If it invisibly does something else, both the PC & the user are happy, but infected. That's a tough problem to beat without driving the user nuts. That's what happened with Windows Vista & its UAC.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: " ...The biggest problem is in the wetware (human). ..."

Jim, would you say that most YouTube videos are safe to run?

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "... As for Linux not getting viruses & trojans, I look at patch lists all the time & Linux kernels have as many problems as MACs & PCs. Because most computers are Windows, over 90%, hackers go for them. If they think they can scam a lot of people with Simplicity computers, trust me, they'll start sending them out. ..."

Jim, I sent our son the link to this thread and told him about your reply here. He sent me the following in e-mail and OK'd my quoting it. As you can see, he pretty much agrees with you about Linux:
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"Ah well, the the debate over Windows versus Linux security has been raging for quite some time and isn't likely to end soon.

"It's true that Microsoft's market penetration makes it much more of a target for viruses. If Linux were as popular, I'm sure we'd see many more viruses written trying to exploit it, many of them successfully no doubt.

"I would tend to say the Linux's security is somewhat tighter than Windows' from an architectural point of view, but Jim has a good point about the main weakness not necessarily being the OS, but rather the user, who has a tendency to click on just about any button that has "OK" written on it.

"I've heard also that viruses written for the Mac are now beginning to become a bigger problem as the popularity of that OS has been increasing. It's a problem we just have to learn to live with I guess.

"My approach is to always go just a little bit off the beaten path and do things in a somewhat unconventional manner. (Using Linux is still one way to do that.) This tends to reduce the risk considerably of getting hit with a "mainstream" exploit aimed at users who do things the most common and predictable ways."
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[Jim]

Your son & I agree. I never use the most popular antivirus for the same reason. Virus writers often test their stuff on the top 2 or 3, but #4 is usually as good (or better) & isn't a target.

My son uses Linux, exclusively. I have to support Windows because too many of the business applications we run only work on Windows computers. I use Linux on all of the pieces of hardware that sit between the Internet & the network inside, though. IOW, where ever I can.

For corporate files, no one has ever done a better job than Novell, IMO.