Hi everyone:

I was just wondering since I am just coming off of a windows machine whether or not I need to have some type of anti-virus software installed and also if I need to worry about defragmentation. Thanks.


I am using a Dell Inspiron laptop running Ubuntu 8.04. Thanks.

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On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 7:40 PM, markfpyles <markfpyles@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone:
>
> I was just wondering since I am just coming off of a windows machine whether
> or not I need to have some type of anti-virus software installed and also if
> I need to worry about defragmentation. Thanks.
>
> I am using a Dell Inspiron laptop running Ubuntu 8.04. Thanks.

Every 30 boots or so, Linux checks your HD. This takes a long time.
Not sure what it really doing.


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2008/11/4 Knapp <magick.crow@gmail.com>:
> On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 7:40 PM, markfpyles <markfpyles@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi everyone:
>>
>> I was just wondering since I am just coming off of a windows machine whether
>> or not I need to have some type of anti-virus software installed and also if
>> I need to worry about defragmentation. Thanks.
>>
>> I am using a Dell Inspiron laptop running Ubuntu 8.04. Thanks.
>
> Every 30 boots or so, Linux checks your HD. This takes a long time.
> Not sure what it really doing.
>

Filesystem integrity check.

You cannot be infected by so-called drive-by downloads, but if you run
SSH or other open services then make sure that it is properly
configured. Firefox itself can be compromised by an add-on, so don't
install Firefox addons or other programs (or repos) if you do not
trust them. Note that all browsers are subject to XXS and other
browser-based attacks.

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ä-ö-ü-ß-Ä-Ö-Ü
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You do not need to defragment or run a virus checker. Linux systems
can be compromised, but if you have no open ports then just don't
install software from questionable sources, and be aware of
browser-based attacks.

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Dotan Cohen

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On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 1:40 PM, markfpyles <markfpyles@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone:
>
> I was just wondering since I am just coming off of a windows machine whether
> or not I need to have some type of anti-virus software installed and also if
> I need to worry about defragmentation. Thanks.

No and no :-)

(the fine print)
You can of course accidentally forward a virus without knowing it and
it will infect the person you sent it to still...

And, if you run a very full harddrive (say over 95% full) for a length
of time you can actually start to have some fragmentation because the
system just doesn't have enough room to keep things tidy.
(end the fine print)

Brian

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2008/11/4 Dotan Cohen <dotancohen@gmail.com>:
> You do not need to defragment or run a virus checker. Linux systems
> can be compromised, but if you have no open ports then just don't
> install software from questionable sources, and be aware of
> browser-based attacks.
>

There are virus checkers for Linux. ClamAV is the most notable and
Avast makes a commercial AV program for Linux. You really shouldn't
have to worry about it though, your chances of running into a Linux
virus out in the wild is tiny. Only .1% of all the viruses loose on
the Internet affect Linux. You have a better chance of being hacked
by someone more than you are getting infected by something. As was
suggested make sure your protocols are properly configured, it
wouldn't hurt to have a properly working firewall, and if you are
using Ubuntu as a desktop system you shouldn't need to be able to
connect to it via SSH. Install all updates as they come, install only
Firefox add-ons that come from a trusted source, and don't visit
questionable websites. A good thing to do is look up a site in Google
before you visit it. Google is very good at flagging sites that are
dangerous, I've seen notices in search queries saying the site could
damage your computer due to detected malware. A good way to protect
yourself in Firefox is to use AdBlocker Plus and NoScript.

The number one thing to remember is that no OS and no web browser is
100% safe, but there are things you can do to protect yourself to
improve your chances out there.


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On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 4:15 PM, Brian McKee <brian.mckee@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 1:40 PM, markfpyles <markfpyles@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi everyone:
>>
>> I was just wondering since I am just coming off of a windows machine whether
>> or not I need to have some type of anti-virus software installed and also if
>> I need to worry about defragmentation. Thanks.
>
> No and no :-)
>
> (the fine print)
> You can of course accidentally forward a virus without knowing it and
> it will infect the person you sent it to still...
>
> And, if you run a very full harddrive (say over 95% full) for a length
> of time you can actually start to have some fragmentation because the
> system just doesn't have enough room to keep things tidy.
> (end the fine print)
>

Correct, the way EXT3 works prevents file fragmentation or at least
minimizes it to some degree unlike NTFS which has a high degree of
developing file fragmentation. I usually have to defrag my Vista
laptop at least once a week or it starts to really slow down. Darn
you Micro$oft and your crappy OS!

Probably the most shocking thing to me is that files on an NTFS
partition which I haven't used in a long time and were defragmented
suddenly show up as fragmented when I run O&O Defragmenter
Professional in XP. How the in the holy heck can a file that's hardly
ever accessed and never written to end up being fragmented?


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On Tue, 2008-11-04 at 16:28 -0500, Michael Haney wrote:
>
> There are virus checkers for Linux. ClamAV is the most notable and
> Avast makes a commercial AV program for Linux.

Not wanting to restart the same argument again, but for the benefit of
the OP: these exist almost exclusively to enable Unix mail servers to
protect Windows mail clients from Windows viruses (but yes, they will
come in handy if in the future Unix-like systems should be targeted by
and prove vulnerable to email viruses)

Again to the OP: if you search the list archives (use
"site:lists.ubuntu.com" on google or use gmane.org), you will find all
possible arguments about the "linux virus?" argument in the archive


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On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 4:40 PM, Mario Vukelic <mario.vukelic@dantian.org> wrote:
> On Tue, 2008-11-04 at 16:28 -0500, Michael Haney wrote:
>>
>> There are virus checkers for Linux. ClamAV is the most notable and
>> Avast makes a commercial AV program for Linux.
>
> Not wanting to restart the same argument again, but for the benefit of
> the OP: these exist almost exclusively to enable Unix mail servers to
> protect Windows mail clients from Windows viruses (but yes, they will
> come in handy if in the future Unix-like systems should be targeted by
> and prove vulnerable to email viruses)
>
> Again to the OP: if you search the list archives (use
> "site:lists.ubuntu.com" on google or use gmane.org), you will find all
> possible arguments about the "linux virus?" argument in the archive
>

So true, AV software on Linux isn't really useful unless you're
running a mail server.

Arguments? Oh, I've seen flame wars break out over the subject. Mac
virus "arguments [snicker ... laugh] are probably worse.

The overall consensus is there's nothing to worry about until Linux
becomes as popular an OS as Windows, which is the only reason why
ScriptKiddies and Crackers (Hackers don't write viruses) target that
OS oh 99.99% of the time.

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On Tue, 2008-11-04 at 16:50 -0500, Michael Haney wrote:
> Arguments? Oh, I've seen flame wars break out over the subject.

Yeah. I figured the OP will find out if he reads the archives

> The overall consensus is there's nothing to worry about until Linux
> becomes as popular an OS as Windows, which is the only reason why
> ScriptKiddies and Crackers (Hackers don't write viruses) target that
> OS oh 99.99% of the time.

Well, market share is certainly a factor, but let's not completely
discount that Windows does have certain properties that make it more
vulnerable to email viruses, and it had even more in the past.


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