[Dclug] Inquiry regarding PGP and how to install it, I tried, did not work

[Tim Cash]

First, I posted to you because I could not figure out how to post my
question to DC-LUG, I saw no link to click on or email address to send
to for my queries.
Second, I thank you for your references to the other LUGs in the DC
area.  I will Google them.
Third, yes, I backed up my main windows hard drive on my externals in
order to reformat it to ext4 during the Ubuntu installation.
I left the secondary hard drive alone as an NTFS formatted drive as
Ubuntu has had no problems in read/write to that drive format FOR ME.
I almost always discover and learn things on computers by getting into
trouble because I tend to get ahead of the wagon train and get
surrounded by Indians!
I have been playing ON/OFF with Linux for at least ten years but am
now serious about staying with Linux as my OS of choice.
I have the type of mother board that was able to test drive several
OS's these past two years with various Linux distros, various Windows
32 and 64 bit, and 32 bit versions of OSX.
I like the Windows 7, OSX, and Ubuntu "desktop feel", but find that
Ubuntu is easier to use and get things done on, and of course can't
beat the price.
I have played around with AV for many years with Satellite Free To
Air, Network Media Tank, and a digital OTA TV tuner (HD Home Run) and
did find Windows Media Center a very good experience, but Linux
applications are catching up.
I tried to install MythTV several times, and it is way too complex, I
like things simple.  That app has a long way to go before a non-techie
could ever hope to use it.
I have mastered loading third party firmware onto my cell phone, and
DD-WRT onto my routers.
All in all, a good experience with Debian and Ubuntu as my top two choices.
I went with Ubuntu this time because of it's maturity level.
I know how to use Wine and VMWare but do not bother with it as I have
Linux apps for most everything I need to do on my putr.
The hobbyist groups for AV and photography are of interest to me if
you know of Linux groups that meet in the DC area.

Regards,

Tim Cash
cash.tim at gmail.com


On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 10:55 AM, jerry w <jerrywone at gmail.com> wrote:
> Tim, et. al.:
>
> I'm thinking Tim is too shy to ask large groups,
> so I'm forwarding it for him ;-/
>
> I'm not PGP certified, nor particularly good
> at support, so check with DCLUG and
> you might want to know about DCLoCo
> which tends to meet at Taste of India
> on Saturday afternoons, and tending to do
> something in Pentagon City too, so check thier
> list(s).  If you are using Ubuntu,
> I highly recommend you get on that list as well,
> as they are the local experts and meet
> regularly with computers in hand, face to face...
>
> From what I could parse of below
> (doing penance for my last DCLUG post on FC14 install notes)
> Learning command line, it helps to look over someone else's shoulder,
> as that's how I learned stuff like Control-R looks up command history,
> and O Reilly books are good, hence why I created the DCLUG library,
> as my local public library was so out of date and useless for reference,
> man pages, like man startx or similar
>
> Not sure what corrupted your disk...  Like most beginner questions,
> someone looking at the machine makes more sense,
> and DCLoCo meetings sound like a good place to start.
> I did some ByteBack early on many years ago, where we were
> at a computer lab.  Also InstallFests which have fallen by the wayside,
> as most experienced think stuff installs itself :-)
> but newbies have trouble with the names of everything,
> partitioning, in particular is where most have the problem
> (wiping your drive, if you do it wrong) AND YOU MADE A BACKUP RIGHT??!!
>
> Creating a PGP key doesn't seem to be that difficult,
> but keysigning to get recognized by others then setting up Enigma or something
> on emails.  But I'm not PGP certified, as mentioned above.
> Keysignings generally have specific instructions given with them...
>
> Generally, migrating from Windows is a painful experience,
> similar to Detox,  but worth it, keep coming back, and before you know it
> someone will be asking you questions ;-)
>
> On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 12:53 PM, Tim Cash <cash.tim at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2010 08:14:27 -0400
>> From: jerry w <jerrywone at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Dclug] F14 install experience notes
>> To: dclug at calypso.tux.org
>> Message-ID: <AANLkTi==zL36TVKy9dDnUga9pnfONRhpb61xrqT_g5aj at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>> "could not verify download with gpg instructions on fedoraproject page
>> (under ubuntu)"
>>
>> Jerry W
>>
>> Hello Jerry,
>>
>> My name is Time Cash and I am a subscriber to the DC Linux Users Group pages.
>> I saw your message this morning and I have a question.
>> I recently tossed out my Windows 7 installations for a new fresh
>> download installation of Ubuntu 10.04 on my desktop and 10.10 on my
>> laptop.
>> My desktop has an Asus p5w dh deluxe mother board, 2 GB RAM, two hard
>> drives (740 GB and 500 GB).
>> My laptop is an Acer Aspire 4530-6823 Dual core AMD with the onboard
>> Nvidia 9100 M graphics board, 3 GB RAM, 320 GB hard drive.
>> The desktop with Ubuntu 10.04 ran fine until my desktop lost it's
>> cookies and I was forced to upgrade to Ubuntu 10.10 or reformat the
>> hard drive and loose all of my files (not an option).
>> I upgraded to Ubuntu 10.10 on the desktop with success but do not
>> understand why I lost the 10.04 GUI int he first place.
>> Then, my laptop installation hard drive files got scrambled and I lost
>> the Nvidia driver in the laptop 10.10 kernel.
>> I had to learn how to upgrade Ubuntu Linux FROM THE COMMAND LINE as I
>> had lost my X11 GUI.
>> I had to use my desktop PC to search the Internet for a solution,
>> download the Nvidia driver I needed, transfer that driver via flash
>> drive using the command line, and load that driver onto the laptop.
>> I did so and it runs fine, but what a pain int he ass that was.
>> I am trying to get religion with respect to securing my system and
>> Internet access, so I want to install PGP on my systems, but do not
>> know how.
>> The directions I followed from an Ubuntu forum did not work.
>> Any recommendations where to download PGP, which PGP to download, and
>> how to generate a PGP key I can then use in my Evolution email to lock
>> it down and secure it ?
>> In the past I just copped out and returned to using Windows.  I am NOT
>> going back to Windows, which means I MUST learn additional Linux
>> maintenance tricks to keep my PCs running properly and safely.
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Tim Cash
>> 260 South Reynolds Street
>> Apt 1001
>> Alexandria, VA 22304
>> C 410 507-6824
>> Msgs 410 946-2153
>> cash.tim at gmail.com