Updating Software

All users can download and install new software. Of course, the programs they install are limited to the user’s own permissions. The thing to be careful of here — as with any operating system — is that you don’t get a version of a program that has been tampered with or is even an all-out fake trying to trick folks into installing it.

Most Linux applications and other Linux software programs are distributed by way of the Internet. In fact, the development cycle of new (and updates to) Linux software revolves around the Internet for file exchange, e-mail, and forum or newsgroup discussions. Make sure that you and other users of your Linux system are comfortable with the Web sites that are used and visited. You need to develop a list of trusted sites that provide you with the information you need and are not misleading in their presentation. As a starting point, you can trust all the Web sites referenced in this book because I have accessed them all. If either you or a user of your Linux system is unsure whether you can trust a particular Web site, do some research and perhaps ask others for their opinions.

Chapter 16 details how to keep your distribution and its software up to date. Please, please, please, do so! After all, as the person in charge, your job is to make sure that this computer stays intruder-free. In addition to making sure that you do all the same things a user would do for both your user accounts and the superuser (root) account, no matter which ...

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