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On 22/12/14 13:15, Paul Sutton wrote: > There are plenty of resources out there that can help new users of GNU > / Linux based systems, most modern distros like mint are pretty > straight forward anyway. Mint also has excellent documentation. > > They could join the mailing list and ask for help there, which is (as > far as I am aware) partly why we exist in the first place. > > If they are near to Holsworthy perhaps they can come to meetings and > ask for help > > If they NEED windows for a specific purpose then install in a VM, > even if this is their XP version in a VM, if it is isolated from the > net, and can run that program then there probably isn't really an issue. > > Is there even a specific windows only program they NEED to run. This gentleman is completely correct, except for the XP bit. The only people who should have even an isolated virtualised XP instance are people like me who do regression testing, reverse engineering and other legitimate but otherwise nefarious things like pentests as part of our jobs. Otherwise discipline will lapse, the VM will end up getting connected to the internet and it will be pwned instantaneously and immediately become part of the problem. Inherently vulnerable attack platforms and out of support operating systems just can NOT ever be left in the hands of incompetents, i.e., non IT specialists. Just don't do it. If they absolutely must have a Windows VM for some reason, they either need CompSci degrees or it has to be an actively supported, security patched version. There are no exceptions to this rule and if any of you are still supporting normal users running XP machines you should be ashamed of yourselves. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq