[Palomine]

I know we're in a tiny minority here, but if there's any other Linux users here who'd not mind doing a small test/favor for me, would you please download and install this little network traffic monitoring utility from Sourceforge and let me know if it works on your system (and what distro/version of Linux you're using)?

It's a simple little app that lets you know how much internet bandwidth you've used per day/month/etc... On my PC (running Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS) it installed fine, but when I click it from the icon dock at the left edge of the screen, it pops up for just a fraction of a second and then disappears. Any advice on how to get it to run would be appreciated.

NTM - Network Traffic Monitor by Sourceforge: http://netramon.sourceforge.net/eng/index.html
Download page: http://netramon.sourceforge.net/eng/download.html ...I used the Deb package and just let my Ubuntu software package manager do the install.

PS: before you suggest I just use the default 'Network Tools' progam that's part of Ubuntu, let me point out that it only seems to track usage totals since the last reboot... it doesn't keep cumulative totals or keep track of usage on a monthly basis like ISPs with data caps do.

[SwitcherX]

Is it possible for Arch Linux to be harder and more confusing to install?  Christ...

[SwitcherX]

As I find Arch Linux to be baffeling, i've decided to give Linux Mint a try.  Does anyone know anything about it have any spyware in it?  It isn't listed on Prism Break anymore.

[Palomine]

Though I've read about (but can't elaborate on) specifics related to Prism Break, IMO Mint is the best Linux distro I've used thus far... by far my favorite. By "spyware" I assume you're referring to the kerfuffle about the search tool in Unity (the Ubuntu desktop) collecting search data (which can be turned off by the way) and not the traditional spyware created by third-parties (not the maker of an OS) such as tracking cookies, trojans, adware, etc... AFAIK, there's no such equivalent thing in any of the search tools to be found in any of the multiple desktops available in Mint (Cinnamon is my favorite). Let me also point out that even if an OS did/does collect search data, that would make it no different than Google or Bing, who's entire raison d'etre (and Google's billions) are based on exactly that.

If you're truly concerned about privacy, stop using Google and other search engines that keep track of your searches (such as DuckDuckGo ...good luck with that! ) or run every single damn thing you do online through (not just a proxy server, but) a full anonymizing protocol by running Tor, Tails, etc... (good luck with that too ). Both approaches come at a usability price IME. Alternately, you could just stop worrying about it, acknowledging that such extreme measures aren't justified for most folks simply to conceal the fact that they search for porn online, unless of course they're the Pope or something, where such a revelation could actually be troublesome enough to warrant the caution. If, on the other hand, you're searching online for information/content that's so reprehensible or illegal or potentially defamatory (to you, if news of it got out) then by all means you probably should be using Tails and Tor and give up googling for duck watching, despite the (considerable) hassles involved. If that is the case, you should probably immediately cease using your cellphone too: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/14/government-planes-mimic-cellphone-towers-to-collect-user-data-report

BTW, why'd you want Arch Linux? I mean, I grok the intent of it as outlined at their wiki and can appreciate the goals of "simplicity and code elegance" but surely there are a dozen other more widely-used distros that are as simple to install as OSX and just work out of the box with 95%+ of common hardware 95%+ of the time (such as any major distro based on Debian)? Just wondering.

[TheZookie007]

Alternately, you could just stop worrying about it, acknowledging that such extreme measures aren't justified for most folks simply to conceal the fact that they search for porn online, unless of course they're the Pope or something, where such a revelation could actually be troublesome enough to warrant the caution.

Isn't the Vatican supposed to have one of the world's largest collections of porn? Or is that just an urban legend?

[SwitcherX]

I do use DuckDuckGo for a search engine.

I tried Arch Linux because a linux admin know said that's the distro I should try since I use OpenBSD on a lot of servers.

I noticed that firefox has a "Mint Search Enhance 1.0" add-on that can be disabled but not removed.  It "Enhances the results given by Google".

[Palomine]

I do use DuckDuckGo for a search engine.

I tried Arch Linux because a linux admin know said that's the distro I should try since I use OpenBSD on a lot of servers.

I noticed that firefox has a "Mint Search Enhance 1.0" add-on that can be disabled but not removed.  It "Enhances the results given by Google".

If you're actually foregoing Google and resigning yourself to DuckDuckGo (which IME, though well-intioned, sorta sucks in terms of results) then I'm really surprised you don't use Tails/Tor. With it, everything you do is thoroughly anonymized (well, as much as is practicable). It's Edw@rd Snod3n's OS of choice, and (as you might imagine) he's got more reason than you or I to keep his online footprints to a minimum these days. Give it a try... I DLd it recently and installed it onto a bootable flashkey for my main PC, but I never use it because the Ubuntu that's already on it just is so much more pleasant. But Tails was no trouble to set up (I've done it for a couple different machines now) so it shouldn't give you the trouble that Arch did.

[SwitcherX]

DuckDuckGo takes some getting used to since you have to use it differently that Google, but I like it.

I kind of expect to be spied on by commerical OSs like Windows and even OS X, but not the free ones.  What would RMS say?

This is my first post from Mint.  <---Palomine says: Mazel Tov!

[TheZookie007]

I've made DuckDuckGo my default search engine in Firefox. I also installed Disconnect, which helps to anonymize any Google/Bing/Yahoo!/DDG/Blekko searches you still may do. And, especially for when I'm doing a Google Reverse Image Search, I make sure that I am logged out of my Google Account. I also try to use Epic Privacy Browser for most of my online stuff these days.

[Palomine]

I'm not going to go into the details of the recent Mattel "game developer Barbie" fiasco and the subsequent crowd-sourced RE-captioning of the images from that product to create "Feminist Hacker Barbie" (just google it... the RE-captions are pretty funny).

Attached is one that caught my eye, and I share it here due to the recent mentions of Arch Linux (and my many prior mentions of Ubuntu). I know folks who use Arch (and other more techy, less common Linux distros) like to bash Ubuntu (due mainly to the fact that Ubuntu (for all its flaws) is simple to install and easy to use, thereby de-mystifying Linux for newbies). The implication that Ubuntu crashes (in this RE-captioned image) is of course nonsense... Ubuntu, like any major Debian-based Linux distro is solid as a rock... weeks and months without a reboot or crash are the norm.

No matter what Arch users would like to believe.

Feminist Hacker Barbie (RE-captions) on Linux EDITED I removed the other character Skipper because I have no idea how old she's supposed to be and am too lazy to read a wiki about Barbie characters.

[TheZookie007]

Poor Skipper...not only does she have an androgynous name, she has a dumbass older sister. Barbie's solution to the virus she put on Skipper's laptop? Remove the entire hard disk!

[TheZookie007]

Nixie Pixel: "Linux vs Windows"

Even though she's flat as a board, she's got my vote.

[Palomine]

Nixie Pixel: "Linux vs Windows"

Even though she's flat as a board, she's got my vote.

Agreed! Cute as the dickens. I'm not so sure that I'd find her as attractive if she were espousing a position that I dislike (white superiority, corporate influence upon democratic institutions, slaughtering baby Harp seals for their fur...) instead of one that I do (the benefits of open-source in general and Linux in particular). Plus, I like her "Friends help friends use Linux" t-shirt a lot, even if it's not filled to (let alone beyond) capacity.

I'd like to think that "Nixie Pixel" is her given/actual name, but I can't imagine anyone has parents that cool.

[TheZookie007]

Somebody give Leanne Crow a "Friends help friends use Linux" t-shirt, stat!

[SwitcherX]

I have an ATI video card in my computer and install the driver manually from AMD's website since Linux Mint doesn't have a pre-made package. I updated some system files that mint was showing in the system updater and when i rebooted, my computer promptly took a shit all over itself.

Luckily I back up all of my files regularlary.

I had to reinstall the system and noticed that AMD released a new driver a few day ago.  It's working fine.  I don't know what the problem with the old one was.  I guess I'll have to check for updates occasinally.