Hey guys, I got a few questions about security risks for any Linux desktops.
1 Is it a bad idea to use chmod in file managers such as mc (Midnight Commander) as super user just to change file permissions so that you could use that program in WINE (Window's Emulator)?  
2 Another question involving mc, I notice that a directory within the dev directory has been modified since today, this folder is under /dev/.udev/links/. Should I be concerned about it? I'd had a program called rootkithunter find suspicious files in this folder before and think my system may have been cracked into.
3 If I did do something stupid chmod and my system has been compromised, does anyone know a site where I can learn better security or a book I should read? I've heard this many times since using Linux that I should go"RTFM" but my ubuntu system didn't come with anything about security, nor do I know where to find any manuals on the subject. So your guy's input would be much appreciated, thank you

You don't need to do that, just type "wine whatever.exe", but doing "chmod +x whatever.exe" won't really cause any issues.

This is normal

Doing something with chmod, no matter how stupid, will not allow a remote attacker to get access to your system unless you have a webserver running AND you share /etc/passwd, but that would be 2 unique types of stupidity and would require active effort.

Oh okay thanks Just one more question though, would you need to know any kind of maths to be able to program? To be honest I only have a 5th grade understanding of maths cause of different circumstances while in high school and was wondering if I needed to learn algorithmic algebra or anything like that ?

You need to understand algebra, yes - since programming basically IS algebra

pfffffffffttttttttttt Algebra is stupid easy.


Calculus is what makes a difference in today's IT world.

Specifically lambda calculus

Sure... whatever you say.

However...  calculus (in general) is literally what makes the world go round and round.

I need to also brush up on long division through algebra while I'm on it... @ Gareth I heard of calculus but never heard of Lambda Calculus

You can get away with not studying the mathematical basis of the whole thing and still write plenty of good code so don't worry

Oh okay gotcha What would the math part of programming be for anyways ?

I'd been wondering something similar. I'm so severely dyscalculic doing very basic addition/subtraction is about it, and more basic still multiplication.

And want to learn to program. (pascal, using delphi), but really not sure where to start.

Oh okay gotcha What would the math part of programming be for anyways ?

CPU instructions (VERY difficult but fun to explain)


Imagine a "byte" as a rectangle with 8 squares within it.

Then, imagine that every 'square' is something called a "bit", or a binary unit, and is represented with a 1 or 0 (kind of like an on/off switch.)

Still following me? Haven't lost your interest? Ok, then.

Most "instructions" are supremely complex algebra forms like "XOR" or "DWORD". (press Ctrl-F to find "DWORD" in the page)

There's also this larger computational concept called "bitwise operation"; which is the concept that includes all others in electrical microchip computing.

You don't have to understand how these things work (necessarily), merely that they do.

Surely you must be bored by now!

Which is why I'm moving on to the collective 'fun' of desktop/laptop programming: programming languages.

What are they? They are the basic architecture of source coding.

How do you choose them? Well... try "python". It's Gareth-recommended.

What are it's merits? It's free. (being the most important part )

edit; moderate dyslexia

edit2; forgot a link :/

A moderately useful "list of Python software"

My favorite part: Civilization IV gets an honorable mention.

Lol Actually that is one of my "Special interests" I love reading how the machine works... And Lestat if your running Linux, then some sort of Pascal programming document should come as a package download, if you can't find one, just do a google search for "Free Pascal programming pdf download/s. Here's a link to a 174 pg free Pascal download Programmer's Guide -Free Pascal
And here's on using C in Pascal How to use C in free Pascal projects
And here's one for Object Pascal Language Guide Object Pascal Language Guide
If non of these works for you here's a link to the 2nd result page for the search terms I used on Google

www.google.com 2nd results page for Pascal programming

I hope these links help you Lestat

<--- Does not particularly like Linus Torvald's  vision of future operating systems, but understands it from the perspective of 'rebelling against Microsoft and closed source programming'.