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The current threat

The sheer number of desktops, laptops, and servers running Windows makes them an easy and readily available target for malware writers and spammers. Assessment of an organization’s requirements for protection against viruses, spyware, Trojans, and worms has therefore tended to concentrate on the Windows environment. Meanwhile, the network security risk arising from unprotected non-Windows computers has sometimes been downplayed or overlooked altogether.

The need to protect the gateway from malicious code – whatever the operating system – is pretty well accepted. However, acceptance is not clear-cut over endpoint protection, as most malware continues to target Windows platforms, with only a tiny proportion being created specifically for Mac and Linux platforms.

The fact that most malware continues to be written for Windows computers encourages the argument that investment in protection for non-Windows computers at the endpoint is unnecessary. So why, then, is it important for organizations to protect non-Windows computers?

Essentially there are four reasons:

Although there are comparatively few non-Windows viruses, the ones that do exist represent real threats.

Linux servers are a target for hackers who use them as a means of connection to attached Windows computers.

Non-Windows computers can and do harbor and deploy the much more widespread Windows malware.

Government and industry regulations increasingly oblige organizations to put anti-malware protection on all computers, whether or not that organization agrees there is a risk.

Non-Windows malware

Vulnerabilities on any platform are liable to exploitation. This is increasingly true as virus writers, spammers, and hackers join forces to steal data and money from unsuspecting businesses through spyware, phishing, and similar attacks. Vendor-issued security patches to eliminate system vulnerabilities are as likely to be published for Mac and UNIX operating systems as they are for Windows. While these might currently be issued less in response to an actual exploitation of vulnerability and more as a proactive measure, the need for patching illustrates the fact that non-Windows operating systems do exhibit vulnerabilities. These can be – and have been – exploited.

The fact that most malware continues to be written for Windows computers encourages the argument that investment in protection for non-Windows computers at the endpoint is unnecessary

So the risk of infection on non-Windows platforms is not to be dismissed out of hand. The relatively low number of viruses, Trojans, worms, and spyware attacks on non-Windows environments does not reflect an inability to create viruses for these operating systems, rather a greater interest in targeting Windows with its vast user base.

However, as the following examples show, there is real interest from some in targeting Mac and Linux platforms:

OSX/Leap-A The first piece of malware for Mac OS X arrived in February 2006 and uses the iChat instant messaging system to spread itself to other users – in a similar way to an email or instant messaging worm on Windows.

Linux/Rst-B This virus was first detected in February 2002, and is the virus that Linux users are most likely to encounter today, as it replicates on up-to-date distributions. It infects hacking tools used to gain access to Linux servers. During a recent three-month period, about 70% of hacking tools downloaded by hackers to one honeypot was found to be infected with Linux/Rst-B.1

OSX/RSPlug-A This Trojan, the first piece of financially motivated malware for Mac, changes DNS server settings to gain control of HTTP traffic with the aim of redirecting web traffic to malicious sites. It was first detected in November 2007.

OSX/Hovdy-A Discovered in June 2008, this Trojan can steal passwords, open firewalls to give hackers access, and disable security settings on Mac OS X computers.

The attraction of Linux servers

Hackers target servers as a means to gain control over a network of computers, and it is very common for Windows networks to include a server running UNIX or Linux. Vulnerabilities, such as a weak SSH password, can allow hackers to convert a Linux server into a botnet controller, and install malware that will compromise desktop Windows computers. These botnets of hijacked, zombie computers are then used to steal information, send spam – indeed, 90% of spam comes from botnets – or to launch Denial of Service attacks.

In addition, a large proportion of Apache web servers are hosted on Linux (or some flavor of UNIX). Increasingly, these servers are being targeted by hackers as a means of placing malicious code on legitimate websites. As shown in Figure 3, almost 60% of infected websites in January to June 2008 were hosted on Apache servers – a significant increase from 49% in 2007.

The hidden threat to Windows computers

It is because most corporate networks – even those which would class themselves as “non-Windows” – include some Windows computers that makes the protection of all computers on the network important. Whatever is on one computer can, by virtue of being connected to another, be transmitted to the other.

Fundamentally, a virus or any other piece of malware is simply a file, just like any other file. It can get onto an organization’s desktops and servers in any number of different ways. It can be downloaded from CDs, DVDs, USB drives, email, internet downloads, instant messaging, and so on. The fact that the file can infect only those computers running a particular operating system is irrelevant – it can be saved anywhere. Often the user of the computer on which the file is stored is not aware that there is a virus because it is only when it gets to the Windows computer that the virus becomes active.

Even though the design of UNIX and Macs makes them less vulnerable to viruses than earlier versions of Windows, there is still a significant threat to network security because computers harboring the malware can quietly transmit it to Windows computers. For example, UNIX computers can easily transmit the virus to Windows computers via the Samba file-sharing system. In addition, it only takes one network-aware worm to be emailed from a non-Windows to a Windows computer, for the whole Windows network to be infected.

Complacency among UNIX and Mac users can be a danger here – just as it was for “Typhoid Mary”, a New York City cook in the early 1900s named Mary Mallon, who was a healthy carrier of typhoid, and refused to believe that she was a danger to her employers, despite infecting many of them with the disease.

Increasing regulatory pressure

Regulatory bodies, uninterested in platform support, approach the issue from a completely different viewpoint and have introduced a raft of legislation. Acts, such as the US’s Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) act and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and the UK’s Data Protection Act, are designed to protect the rights and privacy of individuals – and all place additional requirements on IT administrators to maintain and protect data integrity within their networks.

SOX lays a legal obligation on public traded companies to protect all machines associated with financial records. HIPAA does the same for health data. Many IT managers infer from the acts that all file servers within a network that manage financial or health information – regardless of platform –

therefore require anti-virus protection. The acts stipulate the need for:

Information security Nothing should alter original data, and there must be a clear alert in the event of any attempt to modify or destroy information.

Proof of control There must be proof that compliance efforts are working. Event logs, audit trails, and reporting are critical to meeting these goals.

In addition, recognized industry bodies, such as the Payment Card Industry, also impose requirements for all computers holding personal data to be adequately protected.

The recent updated version of the PCI Data Security Standard, version 1.2, expanded the requirement of platform protection by removing the exclusion of UNIX-based operating systems or mainframes. Mac OS X is a UNIX-based system and Linux is UNIX-like, so these operating systems should also be protected by anti-virus software.

In addition, this new version of the Data Security Standard has also expanded its definition of malicious software and now includes the requirement to protect against rootkits – software which enables someone, either legitimately or maliciously, to take control of a Windows or UNIX-based machine undetected.

The future threat

Threats that target the Windows operating environment will remain dominant because it will still be easier to infect huge numbers of Windows computers as there will continue to be huge numbers of Windows computers out there.

However, although Microsoft will continue to dominate the endpoint for many years to come, there are reasons to suggest that non-Windows platforms will become more attractive to virus writers, who will target them more than they have in the past. Improved protection on Windows systems and the changing nature of the threat, with financial gain rather than adolescent bravado the motivating force, makes it likely that less prevalent operating systems will increasingly be exploited.

In addition, it is clear that both Mac and UNIX/Linux are increasing in popularity. Linux servers represented 12.7% of the overall server market ($1.6 billion) in Q1 20072. Mac – already having a high share of the media and education market – saw sales reach an all-time record in Q3 20083 when almost 2.5 million computers were shipped, partly due to their increasing prevalence in business environments.

It is likely malware authors will want to tap into this growing Mac and Linux user base. Indeed in a Sophos web poll conducted at the beginning of 2008, 93% of respondents (compared to 79% in 2006) said they believed that Macs would be

targeted more in the future.4 In the same poll, the percentage that thought that Macs would not be targeted as much as Windows computers also dropped from 59% in 2006 to 50%, as shown in Figure 4, on the previous page.

There is also the possible future development of web-based threats to consider. Malware is currently written for specific operating systems with the web being used solely as a delivery mechanism. However, in the future, malware payloads could be delivered entirely within the browser environment, independent of any operating system. In that scenario, Mac, Linux and Windows computers will all be equally at risk of malware infection.

Meeting the security challenge

Users are always potentially the weak link in the security chain, OSX/Leap-A, for example being spread by instant messaging. No matter what the operating system – Mac, Linux, UNIX, NetWare, OpenVMS, Windows – what they have in common is that their users are all just as susceptible to social engineering as each other and can be tricked into downloading malware onto their computers. Meeting the security challenge is a two-pronged solution combining ongoing organization-wide education about best practice and powerful, reliable protection.

By including computers running non-Windows operating systems as part of the general network security, IT departments will ensure that the very real risk of these computers infecting Windows computers is addressed. They will also ensure that the risk of the non-Windows computers themselves being infected is eliminated.

At the same time, running a robust anti-virus solution on all endpoint desktops, laptops, and servers will ensure that organizations comply with increasingly stringent legislative requirements for data protection and alerts about data modification. Through event logs and reporting, they will also satisfy the requirement for proof of control and remove the risk of the ramifications of failing to meet compliance protocols.

Summary

Leaving non-Windows computers unprotected against malware introduces another field of vulnerability in a landscape already abundant with threats. Although the current risk of infection on computers running non-Windows operating systems is small, particularly outside the Mac strongholds of education and media, it is real and will increase as part of the trend towards stealthily targeted attacks by financially motivated virus writers, spammers, and hackers. By protecting computers running Linux, UNIX, Mac and the like, organizations will not just block non-Windows malware and satisfy increasing legal demands for data protection. More importantly, they will prevent Windows malware being stored and distributed across their IT network, significantly reducing the risks to business continuity and integrity.

Users are always potentially the weak link in the security chain.

Both operating systems are fundamentally different in their design and operation. Linux is an open-source derivative of Unix. Windows is the most prominent proprietary operating system, while Linux is the most prominent operating system that is free software. Unix has a two-user model. There is the root user, everything is allowed, and all other users, whose rights are severely restricted. A user must perform actions that require extended rights, he may do so only if the rights of the user gets root. This is also still the case and leads to considerable difficulties in the implementation of computer security concepts.

The first non-MS-DOS-based Windows NT 3.1 was in the years 1988 to 1993 from Microsoft Windows NT got different security architecture than UNIX. Even Windows has a powerful user named SYSTEM. However, it is not possible to register under that name. All other users have different global rights. An administrator who attempts to access a file, for which he does not have the authorization, you, like any other user, an error message. However, he has the right to file on his property make. This can be done easily via the Windows Explorer. Then he can even assign permissions and the file to use as desired.

Windows must boot from a primary partition. Linux can boot from either a primary partition or a logical partition inside an extended partition. Windows must boot from the first hard disk. Linux can boot from any hard disk in the computer. Other users without administrator rights to self-directories can be assigned. If a user the right to “take ownership” for a directory including all subdirectories that time. That is not possible under Linux. Basically, Microsoft has in the development of Windows NT recognized that the superuser model of UNIX for modern distributed computing systems is to be kept simple.

By all the above discussion, we can conclude that Linux is far better than Windows operating system. Linux have better network and processing capabilities. For server user, home or desktop user, Linux is much cheaper as compared to Windows operating system. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to be used on only one computer but we can run Linux on any number of computers without any additional charges. Linux as having an extremely enhanced security and lesser chances of exploits as compared to Windows.

Choosing the appropriate operating system is based on the server`s function. Linux is powerful and has a versatile operating system while Windows is well-known for its easy to use operating system and versatility. Deciding the right server was certainly a trial as a decade ago, Microsoft`s Windows NT and Novell`s NetWare4 were prominently in use, but today NetWare has totally disappeared and the Linux version is found to be a good choice. Both Windows and Linux come in server and desktop editions.Maintenance and security are one of the significant areas to comprehend the actual differences between the operating systems. Linux are commonly referred to as distributions, also known as `distros`, and are released around the same time frame using the same kernel version (operating system). Linux needs careful consideration of hardware drivers as the hardware newly released should be appropriate and this includes the motherboard as well. Linux installation should be done by people who have proper knowledge to run the operating system and its applications. Linux is stable and more secure than Windows.On the other hand, Windows offers easy installation and runs even in default modes, besides it includes a series of drivers regardless of the hardware type and has the extensive variety of software. However it suffers with frequent security problems demanding critical patches involving rebooting. Moreover it is expensive right from the purchase price to the applications, besides ongoing maintenance is a must to keep it updated and stable.The comparison of Linux vs. Window includes other considerations such as the price, specialized options and support. Linux has server oriented versions available with vendors and some are offered with 24/7 paid support. There are less expensive distribution versions obtainable at Mepis, Centos and Xandros and others, which are offered at a very low cost to get started, while Debian, Slackware, Mint, Mandriva, Fedora of Red Hat and Ubuntu are all free versions.On the other side Microsoft Windows server is regular with 32 and 64 bit versions with specialized options such that it is ideal for small as well as medium sized businesses. However, the biggest hit is that Windows is buoyed up by a multi billion dollar company and is compatible with the majority of software, besides it is very easy in using and understanding that even an average user can make the best of it. Windows pricing varies dramatically based on the numbers purchased and on the yearly maintenance agreement or the licensing plan.The significant difference in Linux version does not speak about the software quality or the drivers` availability, but the support offered. Depending upon the Linux distribution package, the user may get a quick and 24/7 paid support, and this should well suit any corporate environment. Purchasing the operating system and hardware together ensures the support for installed hardware, else it may be required researching to ensure the motherboard, network adapter, chipset and others are supported by the Linux version. The other non-Linux options include OpenSolaris and many variants of Berkley Software distribution.

Could it be that the evil empire has surrendered? If you haven’t heard Microsoft announced on Tuesday that they will change to a higher level of openness and interoperability with many of its high volume products including an agreement not to sue open-source developers for products that connect to Microsoft software. My question is this: Who locked Bill Gates in a closet?

After all, this is by the company that brought you software bundling and the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance. They are like the spoiled kid down the street who won’t share his toys unless you pay him. The real question is why all of a sudden a change of heart?

Many will point to the fact that Bill Gates is retiring and there is a coup occurring within Microsoft’s corporate culture. If you think about it Microsoft is the most developer oriented company there is. Everyone who is anyone at Microsoft started out as a developer and many of them must have misgivings about the company’s history with regard to open-source software. Others will say, such as Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith that this change in policy is a direct response to the European Union lawsuit that was decided in September which found Microsoft guilty of anticompetitive practices. All of these reasons may have had an effect on this decision but make no mistake this is about Google kicking their behinds in web software and online advertising.

I think Microsoft finally realizes that they have past the point of no return. They are no longer king of the block and if they don’t change the way they are perceived and utilized on the web they are going to be the ones monopolized. Google is everything that Microsoft is not. It is accessible and developer friendly. It’s kind of like Hillary Clinton arguing that she is a better administrator than the visionary Barack Obama. It may be factually correct but who are you going to follow? The company that revolves around developers needs to embrace the developer community. This appears to be a small step in that direction but I need to see more before I’m buying it.

HTC is an abbreviation for High Tech Computer Corporation and represents one of the best performing companies from the mobile sector from Asia, more exactly from Taiwan.The company is widely know as a mobile producer that uses both “Microsoft Windows Mobile” and “Android” operating systems on their phones.The growth of the company in the last years – 2006, 2007, 2008 was quite impressive and lead to world wide recognition and a strong brand positioning on the phone market.It is also important to mention that HTC helped with the creation of T-Mobile G1 Android phone, by manufacturing the phone’s hardware.On the smartphone market, HTC has introduced 2 major series: S series – smart phones and T series – touch phones; the company also manufactures Android phones (A series), PDA phones (P series) and Mobile computers (X series).A phone can have different names as it is rebranded by different telecommunication carriers and the only way to know if a HTC phone sold by Orange is the same as the one sold by Vodafone is by looking at its series.The newest smartphones realest by HTC are S 740 – which appeared in September, 2008 and T Diamond 2 – which appeared in 2009.So how smart are they, in comparison to their competitors – iPhone, G1 and Blackberry ?First of all, S740 has a slide out, 4 row keyboard and doesn’t own a touchscreen; a 3.2 MP color camera that benefits from autofocus, a Bluetooth and WI – FI connections, a built in FM radio and a 256 MB of memory. Moreover, it supports the audio formats: AAC, AAC+, MP3, WMA, WAV, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, but does not support video formats and can be used as a GPS. The operating system used is “Windows Mobile Standard” which confers a faster time response. A major draw back is the display that has only 2.4 inch. As design, the S740 is quite stylish and quite different from other phones having only 116.3 mm x 43.4 mm x 16.6 mm in dimensions and a diamond back borrowed from HTC Touch Diamond.On the other hand, the Touch Diamond 2 has a 3.2 inch touch sensitive display (just a little bit smaller than iPhone’s 3.5 inch display), a memory of 288 RAM and a main 5.0 MP camera (the largest among its competitors) with autofocus and a secondary color camera. Even more, the Touch Diamond can also be used as a GPS, supports video and audio formats and uses “Windows Mobile Professional” as an operating system.All these put together, show us major differences between the S and T series, and also the fact that Touch Diamond 2 can be regarded as a tough competition on the smartphone market.So – How smart are they? I will say “pretty smart” and also quite “good looking”.

If a store opened across the street from Target, same relative inventory, same service, only difference everything was free, would Target survive?
Unlikely.
Yet in software…
“Payware” = “Freeware” (open source)
————————————–
Windows = Linux
Oracle = MySQL
MS Office = OpenOffice
Ultra Edit = PSPad
…the current reality is that payware and freeware compete in the marketplace head to head.
In fact, the “for pay” software continues to thrive in the marketplace despite free software that is in many cases just as good (some might claim better).
Why is this?
When you buy a pair of jeans at the store the total cost is paid in full at the time of the purchase. There are no additional costs involved that directly pertain to the manufacturer. Of course there is the on-going cost of maintaining the pants through washing. This is a totally different market that is wholly agnostic to the brand of jeans. In other words, Tide washes Wrangler’s the same as Levi’s.
With software the game is different. Only a small percentage of the total cost of software can be attributed to its development. Support and maintenance make up a sizeable chunk of the cost. The larger one scales the software the higher these costs go. There is no singular solution like Tide to deal with both Windows or Linux. Sure you copy files in both, and make directories, but the means of doing so is very different and not interchangeable like your detergent. My trivial example has not even exposed the tip of the iceberg!
So this leaves us with the issue of market share. When you have a commodity that requires so much additional and continuing service/support, market share becomes a very important factor.
Support and service for free software is anything but free. Microsoft loves to tell us (and rightly so) that TCO (total cost of ownership) between Windows and Linux is in the same ballpark. They even claim that Linux costs more, all factors considered. But the geeks at Redmond can’t have it both ways. Open Source software that can be obtained for free does not represent communism (Remember Mr. Balmer declaring this?). Communism to my understanding was never a sustaining and growing multi-billion dollar business.
If we look back as to how Microsoft dominated the market we tend to forget some key points.
* The mainframe market viewed Microsoft as a passing fad.
[The CEO of DEC wondered why in the world anyone would every want to own a computer.]
*Microsoft was the only real game in town when it came to PC operating systems.
[Any attempts by others (DR Dos, OS2) were summarily squashed.]
*Microsoft gave away IE in order to squash then leader Netscape.
[Who?]
*Microsoft sold early versions of Office for $99.00 to gain market share.
[Other players at the time were selling there office suites for 3+ times that amount. Microsoft bought market share by thinking long term. After all, changing your word processor and spreadsheet are a bit dicier than changing your undies. Also, think of all of us who make a living off these products.]
While many software vendors have come and gone, it is the open source, “here it is for free” Cowboys and Cowgirls that are here to stay and threaten the very world of “for pay” software. But what the hey, we developers are typically more enthralled by creating things than making money. I know of no other profession on the planet where not taking and reusing other peoples work is considered the sane way of doing ones job. I believe in journalism they call it plagiarism?

Let’s be honest: managing multiple instant messaging accounts on different services can be a pain in the neck, especially when you need a different program for each account. That’s not fun, even if your dream is to have your system tray touch your Start menu (or your System menu, GNOME folks!). Ignoring that fact, IM programs tend to be buggy, slow, and bogged down with advertising. Plus, most multi-protocol clients tend to cost money. I don’t have money. But I do have a solution. Read on, kind person who reads thy articles.

Everyone, meet Pidgin. Pidgin is an open-source instant messaging client that allows users to connect to a wide variety of Instant Messaging clients. Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you, so here’s the supported list:

In this article we examine some programming languages used to build dynamic websites that interact with databases. These server-based languages are a major step up from traditional web page development languages such as HTML which run on the client computers. The Open Source product is PHP (which stands for Hypertext Preprocessor). The Microsoft competitors are ASP (Active Server Pages) and ASP.NET (Active Server Pages in the Microsoft .NET environment.) ASP.NET is more expensive, more complicated, and more powerful than its sibling. For simplicity’s sake we refer to Microsoft’s offerings as ASP.

As you know PHP is free. ASP is also free but to run it you may need Microsoft’s IIS (Internet Information Server) which is not free. Uploading, downloading files, encrypting passwords, and sending emails from web pages will probably cost you much more money with ASP than with PHP. As discussed in our previous article (Reason 5 Linux, Apache, and MySQL) LAMP’s database management system is either free or quite inexpensive when used with massive databases. In contrast Microsoft’s SQL Server is pricey. I should let you know that my Internet Service Provider usually charges for MySQL accessibility. When available SQL Server access will you cost more. We have been through the monetary issues before. Let’s compare some other aspects of these two web programming languages.

Perhaps not surprisingly ASP resembles Microsoft’s popular Visual Basic programming language. PHP is based on the C++ programming language, a much more professional solution than Visual Basic. For technical reasons PHP programs tend to run faster than their ASP counterparts, even if the latter requires more powerful hardware. Because it is open source, PHP has access to a wider range of individuals who increase its functionality. PHP talks to a wide range of databases, but focuses on MySQL databases. In contrast ASP works best with SQL Server. While you can mix and match you are usually best off to combine components on the same side of the LAMP/Microsoft fence. After all, they were built to work together.

Despite Microsoft’s unbelievable clout, PHP is the most popular web programming language. Some reasons for its success are speed, increased security, and ease of programming. Once again in my opinion, whenever there is a real contest Microsoft comes up short. An ever-increasing number of computer specialists agree with me.

Maybe you are not interested in learning three or four products. (Who can blame you?) What you really would like to get the most out of an old computer that’s collecting dust in the basement. Here Linux really wallops Windows as seen in our next article.

It doesn’t matter how much money you spend on hardware, you still need an OS to run everything, and this leads to the question: which is best?

While the beardy weirdy brigade might keep banging on about how great open source is and how we should all cuddle a penguin, Linux is simply crap for gaming. Yes, you can play games in Linux, and certain games are now being released for Linux, usually several years after they appeared on Windows, but it’s not for the faint hearted.

While we might complain about Windows foibles until the cows come home, really there’s nothing to complain about compared to Linux. If you can remember the bad old days when you had to configure multiple config.sys and autoexec.bat files, just to get different games working, and you actually enjoyed it, then you are probably a Linux user. For the rest of us though, the only logical choice is Windows.

Which of course begs the question, which version? Only Windows Vista offers the visual delights of DirectX 10, but its brutal hardware requirements means that you end up spending more money than you would for the equivalent performance from a Windows XP rig.

There’s also the issue of hardware drivers. Even a year after release, there are still many drivers missing, or not working correctly in Vista. There’s also the issue of cost. Windows XP is a lot cheaper than Vista, although it’s not going to be available for much longer. Let’s not forget that in Crysis, many of the so-called DirectX 10 features have been unlocked in Windows XP.

For now, we’d say, unless you absolutely have to have that Aero interface, Windows XP is still first choice, while it’s available.

Many people find that Damn Small Linux is an excellent tool for mastering Linux commands and running the Linux operating system. But what if you have no interest in becoming a computer nerd; can this software still be useful to regular people? The answer is a resounding yes. You can use this tiny operating system whether or not you want to learn the sometimes gruesome details of operating systems. This article presents several free games that are immediately available once you have downloaded and installed Damn Small Linux.
To access these games either click on the DSL button in the lower-left hand corner or on the Apps icon toward the top of the screen. Then open the Games: there are eleven; Canfield, Freecell, Golf, Mastermind, Minesweeper, Pegged, Slide_Puzzle, Solitaire, Taipei, Thornq, and Xtris and Taiedit which is not a game, but a game editor. This article looks at the first six games; a companion article examines the rest of them. As with any gaming systems, be careful not to get addicted.
Canfield is a relatively complicated single-deck solitaire card game. If you are not familiar with this game you’ll have to go to a source such as Google to find out how to play it. There is no help function. And sometimes the cards move fast, too fast to learn what is happening if you don’t know the game.
Freecell is a relatively complicated single-deck solitaire card game. I think that it’s easier to win than Canfield but maybe that’s because I am an ex-semi-Freecell-addict. It’s a lot easier to get addicted to the Window’s version of Freecell because it includes a seed number that lets you replay the same game. There is no such seed number in this version of Freecell.
In spite of its name, Golf is yet another card game one that is fairly well known. For more information about this game access http://www.delorie.com/store/ace/docs/golf.html.
Mastermind is a game in which you use a mouse to drag colors from the palette (on the left) to the empty cells in the guess row. When the four cells in the guess row are full, right-click on the right of the screen to see how you did. There will be one black peg for each cell that is the correct color, and one white for a color that is not in the correct sequence. Keep going and sooner or later you can figure out all the colors in the row. If that’s your thing.
Some people will remember Minesweeper from the days of Windows 3.1. The goal is to clear a field of mines by clicking on a square that has no mines and right-clicking on a mined square to deactivate it. The screen indicates how many mines are adjacent to a square that has been deactivated or clicked on. One false move and you lose. When you start the game you can choose from four levels by enter 1 (the easiest), 2, 3, or 4. I vaguely recall that Windows 3.1 gave me additional options, but still Damn Small Linux’s Minesweeper is a good time waster.
Pegged is a field of thirty penguins and thirty-one spaces. Initially one space is empty. A move consists of one Penguin jumping over another generating an additional empty space. You win if at the end of the game there is a single penguin. You really win if the solitary penguin is in the center square. Some would say that you really, really win if you close the Games menu and get back to work.

Damn Small Linux can be an excellent tool for learning Linux commands and running the Linux operating system. But what if you are not interested in becoming a computer nerd; can this software still be useful to regular people? The answer is a resounding yes; you can make use of this tiny operating system whether or not you want to learn the sometimes gruesome details of operating systems. This article presents several free games that are immediately available once you have downloaded and installed Damn Small Linux.
To access these games either click on the DSL button in the lower-left hand corner or on the Apps icon toward the top of the screen. Then open the Games: there are eleven; Canfield, Freecell, Golf, Mastermind, Minesweeper, Pegged, Slide_Puzzle, Solitaire, Taipei, Thornq, and Xtris and Taiedit which is not a game, but a game editor. We will look at the games in order starting with Slide_Puzzle. As with any gaming systems, you must be careful not to get addicted.
Do you remember a hand-held non-electronic game that contained fifteen movable tiles and sixteen squares? By moving the tiles correctly you could reconstitute a series of numbers. Slide_puzzle is similar but even more challenging. First you load an image, a graphics file such as a jpg file. I didn’t have one readily available so I opened Firefox went to google images and downloaded into the /home/dsl directory the first crayfish image that Google offered me. Then I loaded it into the game which chopped it into little pieces to be reassembled. Left-click on a tile to slide it into the adjacent empty space. Right-click to see the original image. If you are really good you won’t have to take a peek at the original image. It helps if you selected an image that’s easy to reconstitute. I don’t recommend crayfish.
Solitaire is the good-old Klondike solitaire card game. While testing it for this article I won twice in a row and even came close the third time. This is the solitaire that I fondly remember as a kid. Watch out, it’s moderately addictive.
Taipei is a very addictive game in which you try to remove pairs of corresponding tiles. Of course whenever one tile is covered by another tile you must first remove the covering tile. To find out if a tile may be removed right-click on it. If it changes colors it may be removed by clicking on its available partner. The partner tile is usually a copy (9 and 9, Heart and Heart) but any of the direction tiles may be paired with any other direction tile, and any color tile may be paired with any color tile.) The numbers in the lower left hand corner of the screen indicate how many tiles remain and how many tiles are presently removable. In one game I started with 144 and 12. By judiciously removing two tiles I went to 142 and 15. I lost that game, like I lose most of the time. If the rules sound a bit complicated, they are. But you can learn by playing. And you can always press the Backspace key to undo your latest tile removal. The last time I played I was blocked, pressed the Backspace key, and went on to win. Some would say beginner’s luck. The instructions claim that every game can be won. I don’t believe it.
Taiedit lets you modify the game of Taipei. Good luck, this application looks moderately sophisticated.
Thornq is yet another solitaire card game. For more information about this game access their website at www.delorie.com/store/ace/docs/thornq.html .
You may not believe me, but I won this game without knowing how to play it. Beginner’s luck. The point is that Damn Small Linux offers a wide variety of solitaire card games. The final game offered with the system is xtris, a version of Tetris, a game in which you arrange falling blocks. This version offers a few controls including the possibility of playing several games at once. One at a time is more than enough for me.

With the user-friendly Linux distribution Ubuntu gaining popularity at an astounding rate, you may be considering making the move from Windows to Linux. If you are, then you will have wondered how you will work and play without the applications and games you use every day in Windows.

Windows applications can be run in Linux, just not natively. You have two main options: Emulation and Virtualization. Neither are as effective as dual-booting but I will explain them here and their drawbacks.

Emulation allows you to run Windows applications through a “translation layer” which tricks the applications into thinking they are running on Windows. Although great advances have been made by the WINE Project and commercial offshoot, Cedega, many applications are still unsupported. Support for certain applications may even vary depending on your hardware configuration.

Virtualization takes running Windows applications on Linux a step further and is capable of running an entire Windows (or any other) operating system straight from your Linux desktop. With the free application VirtualBox, you can create a “virtual machine” and install any version of Windows you wish onto it.

A virtual machine is switched on and off exactly like a normal PC, except the entire operating system runs inside a window on your Linux desktop. You may then install any Windows applications you wish into the virtual machine and use them as you normally would.

Running applications natively in Windows, via a virtual machine, is far more reliable than running them through a translation layer, but virtualization has its drawbacks too.

When you run Windows in a virtual machine you are effectively running two operating systems, simultaneously, on one computer. This has obvious performance drawbacks. Although most office-type applications could be run this way, if your office insists on a particular piece of Windows-specific software, performance issues and lack of DirectX support severely hampers game applications.

The only way to successfully run all your Windows applications at their full capacity is to install Windows and Linux as dual-boot operating systems.

Dual-booting is the process of installing two operating systems side-by-side, to be run independently. By this method you will be presented with a menu listing your operating systems when you switch on your computer. this allows you to choose the OS most suitable for the tasks at hand, be it work or gaming.

I personally run Ubuntu 7.04 and Windows XP as a dual-boot system. I mostly use Ubuntu for day-to-day tasks and run Windows XP purely for gaming. This way, dual-booting grants me access to the best features of both operating systems and allows me to use my computer to its full potential.