Hello,

I've just installed Ubuntu 8.10 on my computer to try linux for the 1st time in my life, so you can imagine I'm a complete beginner ... One of the questions I have is the following:

How secure is Ubuntu if I connect to the internet straight out of the box?

Let the debate begin!

Cheers,

hrg

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

more secure than you will ever need it to be.

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

So you're saying I can connect to the net straight away and not worry about intrusion attempts?

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

yes you dont. you wont get hacked like windows machines would. I presume you're still connecting wirelessly through a router at home.

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

Nope, no need. It's a desktop, so it's a wired connection to the router ...

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

.........

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

Thanks for the link etincelles.

I've been checking the Ubuntu forums and various blogs and, indeed, the consensus seems to be that Linux is fairly secure straight out of the box, due to iptables and all ports in closed state.

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

not to mention since you are still behind a router, most ports on the router should be closed. Plus if you are still nervous about security, you can download a nice software firewall for your linux machine.

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

whats ubunto? an OS? can i put my games and everything on there? or needs compability?

Re: Question from a Linux/Ubuntu newbie

One of the many flavours of Linux. Aren't you on a Mac? Mac was built on FreeBSD shares similarities with Linux under the hood. If you want to run Ubuntu you'd have to dual boot it. There're emulators like WINE that lets you run Windows programs on it.