You will find game-vv Which is Game with video and voice works real well

( a little complex to get working but well worth it since on MSN you can
do voice or video chat via linux desktop )

Kaffeine will do what Windows Media Player


Chris Carlen wrote:

> Hi:
>
> A while ago I asked about how to secure a LAN with one client running IE
> to access a site using Active X controls. In the past we ran Windows in
> VMware on Linux, so most of the time my wife used Linux.
>
> The solution I came to was this:
>
> My wife's computer now has a hardware switch to allow her to select hard
> drives. One for Linux, and one for Windows.
>
> The way the switch works is it switches the power to either the Linux
> hard drive, or the Windows one. The intention was that if she wants to
> use the Thai TV web site, she boots Windows, and the Linux hard drive is
> unpowered. Also, the other Linux box on the LAN would not be running
> when she uses Windows/IE.
>
> So Windows with IE would only ever run in a completely isolated
> environment, while when she runs Linux, then the other hard drive would
> be used, and the LAN would be in "trusted" mode. In that mode, only
> very limited Windows access to the internet (MSN messenger only) and
> none with IE would be permitted.
>
> Problem: Now that the switch is installed she only uses Windows, and it
> is impossible to have her use of her computer not coincide with my use
> of my computer. Thus the problem is now worse in terms of security, and
> worse in that my wife's usage patterns have now drifted almost entirely
> to Windows.
>
> I think the following might be the only way to save the situation:
>
> 1. Let her use IE in VMware again to access the Thai TV web site (only)
> and to use MSN chat.
>
> 2. Diable the VMware host-only network that allows it access to her
> Linux filesystem. File transfer would only be allowed by a USB cigar
> drive or something like that.
>
> 3. Firewall the Linux boxes (including the host Linux for the VMware
> machine) from all accesses from the IP of the Windows machine.
>
> 4. Continue to run NFS on the LAN, but disallow ftp and telnet since a
> snooper on the VMware Windows could see traffic. Use only ssh to gain
> remote access to the other Linux box.
>
> Things have further deteriorated since my wife bought a webcam, which
> doesn't appear to work with VMware (even the latest version) because it
> uses isochronous USB transfers. Thus she must use the real Windows for
> this. But she doesn't plan to use it all the time.
>
> She actually prefers Linux for it's spaciousness, mainly, the extra
> virtual desktops. But she wants to do things that Linux just cannot do,
> thanks to Microsoft's disgusting anticompetitive acts. She wants to
> chat in Thai with her sister. Her sister uses MSN and won't be
> persuaded to change, since "all their friends use MSN."
>
> Last time I killed many hours trying to get any Linux chat client to
> work in Thai, I failed. I will try again, and maybe it can work now (I
> doubt it), but then again MSN allows webcam and sound functionality, all
> with the effort of...well just about no effort at all. And that is the
> sad fact that is making me loose a Linux convert back to Windows. I
> just cannot get Linux to compete with the functionality of Windows.
>
> Note: There is no alternative to using Windows and IE to access the web
> site, so don't even suggest just "dumping Windows". I know IE and
> Windows suck, but I want my wife to have the only access to Thai TV that
> she can get, which is through IE and that web site. Digital cable is
> expensive and has only one channel which she doesn't want. The Thai TV
> web site uses Active X controls, and will not work with Mozilla. She is
> also uninterested in contacting the site developers to complain because
> she is convinced that they don't care and won't care. They have no
> shortage of customers. Their customers don't care about Windows viruses
> and such, since they are totally conditioned to accept all that
> bullshit. In general I think it is true that for 95% of people, they
> are perfectly willing to put up with the insecurity of Windows and IE.
> They just don't care. They just want it to be *easy and fun*. They
> aren't interested in making sacrifices for matters of principle. That
> is the reality. My job is to find a reasonably secure solution to
> protect my LAN and Linux boxes from Windows.
>
> Bummed out.
>
>
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