[SGVLUG] laptop LoJack

[Emerson, Tom (*IC)]

> -----Original Message----- Of Sean O'Donnell
> Shang-Lin Eileen Chen wrote:
> > This article at http://conigs.com/static/misc/laptop.html is also 
> > interesting. ...
> 
> If my laptop was stolen, and the person who stole it doesn't 
> understand linux or can't crack my password (which is most 
> likely the case), then chances are, they'll simply reformat 
> the hdd and install windows, thus making any attempt at using 
> linux software-based lojack systems, futile.

You might want to re-read the article a little more closely -- the first
part, admittedly more-or-less "mac-specific", points out methods to
making HD-reformatting difficult or impossible without physically
removing the drive.  Of course, there are very few things that stop
someone from physically removing the HD on a "PC" based laptop nowadays
(and I presume it's possible, though it may be difficult, to do the same
with a Mac; then again, I think when I was looking into these I saw that
HD access was getting to be trivial for them as well...)

He also suggests making a passwordless login for "guest" that WOULD let
the thief have enough access to use the computer without necessarilly
knowing/realizing it's running linux.  (In the case of a Mac, the thief
would know it's a Mac and therefore expect it to look and act like one.)
For a generic laptop, the expectation would of course be "Microsoft
Windows", but there are window managers out there that are quite similar
to the "windows explorer" / "program manager" interface that the thief
wouldn't even know they weren't in Kansas anymore...

Though for that matter, KDE and Gnome are getting to the point that a
"typical windows user" might think you're running windows with a bunch
of "fancy desktop gadgets" that changes the look of the startup menu and
stuff, but will, for the most part, manage without too much difficulty.
Adding an "ie" skin to firefox might even make the illusion complete...

Or (heh heh heh) even better: install vmware and set it up so that the
"guest" account launches an actual instance of "some flavor of Microsoft
Windows" as their "gui"...