[Hidden-tech] Thread Drift - change the subject -- Any experience with a Virus that attacks documents?

[Rich Roth]

Ok everyone, time to change the "Subject" on this discussion

No more posts about window options will be allowed without a new subject

Great new topic BUT it is a new topic

Rich

On 1/16/2015 10:53 AM, Maria Korolov wrote:
> For me, the only thing keeping me on Windows is my Filemaker database. I've already 
> switched from Office to OpenOffice and from Photoshop to GIMP with zero regrets.
>
> But I haven't found an easy-to-use open source alternative to Filemaker yet. However, I 
> WILL have to switch away at some point, to a Web-based platform. Back in the day (very 
> old days) I used to write relational database software from scratch (like having to 
> write sorts and searches in Assembler from scratch!) so I'm considering just moving to 
> the latest, modern, cutting-edge Web database development framework. One that lets me 
> create pretty, database-driven websites.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> -- Maria
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
> Maria Korolov •Freelance finance and technology reporter• 508-443-1130
> CSO <http://www.csoonline.com/author/Maria-Korolov/> •CIO 
> <http://www.cio.com/author/Maria-Korolov/> •Network World 
> <http://www.networkworld.com/author/Maria-Korolov/> •PC World 
> <http://www.pcworld.com/author/Maria-Korolov/> •Independent Banker 
> <http://independentbanker.org/?s=maria+korolov&submit=Search> •AFP Exchange 
> <http://www.afponline.org/search.aspx?searchtext=korolov>
>
> On Fri, Jan 16, 2015 at 10:22 AM, Tim Boudreau <niftiness at gmail.com 
> <mailto:niftiness at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>     At the risk of sounding like a crank...
>
>     There is a simple way to never have problems like this (or reduce their likelihood
>     to infinitesimal):  DON'T RUN WINDOWS.
>
>     Seriously.  There are alternatives - some of which (say, Linux Mint) would possible
>     feel more comfortable to someone familiar with Windows XP or 7 than Windows 8 does. 
>     It's not your grandfather's Linux - I've set up very low-computer-skilled neighbors
>     with it, who loved it.
>
>     At this point, the Windows software ecosystem is predators all the way down (think
>     your anti-virus software vendor - which gets a list of every file and program you
>     open - doesn't sell that information?  Think again - I have friends who work for one
>     such vendor).  Let me repeat that - it's predators all the way down - at best you
>     get to pay a lesser predator to keep the nastier ones at bay.
>
>     Or get a Mac.
>
>     Unless you do something highly specific that requires software only available on
>     Windows - say, CAD programs or software that runs a lathe (sorry, word processors,
>     excel and photoshop don't count - there are genuinely viable alternatives) - there
>     is NO reason to be running it.  It is costing you money, leaves you vulnerable to
>     problems like the one in this thread and worse.
>
>     If you don't want to give it up because you *like* it, fine.  But that's a choice
>     like choosing to continue smoking cigarettes.  You know it will harm you some, and
>     possible really severely - and you are making a conscious choice to do it anyway.
>     Because in this day and age, you don't have to.  If you think you have to, consider
>     the possibility that this idea is really just learned helplessness.
>
>     The whole idea of being in a situation where your computer is constantly under
>     attack, where innocent acts like opening an email can lead to catastrophe, where the
>     machine is not a tool you use like a lawnmower, but something un-understandable and
>     constantly buffetted by forces beyond your control - that's not what the world of
>     computers is like to non-Windows users.  The fact that it got like this slowly, so
>     it *seems* normal is more like the story of the frog being slowly boiled and not
>     noticing. If a malicious program has encrypted your documents for ransom, you're
>     being boiled.  If you're in a situation where that could happen to you any day, why
>     stay in that situation?
>
>     I run Gentoo Linux myself (not for the faint-of-tech-heart), but this is the most
>     Windows-user-friendly Linux distibution I know of these days.
>     http://www.linuxmint.com/
>     You can test drive it without committing to it, or install it next to Windows on
>     your computer and try gently migrating to it.
>
>     The point is, there are alternatives.  The first step is recognizing that the
>     problem is real.  And I don't see a lot of people pointing out that there are real,
>     user-friendly alternatives out there.
>
>     I know this won't help get your documents back, but for anyone reading this who
>     wants to avoid a similar situation, there is a way out.
>
>     -Tim
>
>
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