Protection ?
- Thread starter 4T5
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Hey, Malc. Welcome to the dark side 
Antivirus on a Linux box isn't anywhere near as necessary as it is on a Windows machine, primarily because even if you did get a virus it would only run within the context of the user you are using - pretty much all the Linux users I know do not run under the 'root' (i.e. Administrator in Windows-speak) account unless they are doing stuff which specifically requires root access.
Again, unlike in Windows, it is perfectly possible to use your machine with a non-administrative account. In my experience, you are required to have admin privileges on Windows incredibly frequently. One of the reasons why I prefer the Unix-like approach of Linux... but that's another story for another day.
Near enough all the people I know who do use an antivirus application on their Linux machines do so to protect their Windows machines that are on the same network, not because they think that the Linux boxes are going to get infected. There are some viruses for Linux - although people often assume there aren't any - but they're so small in numbers and not in any way as damaging as a virus in Windows is, that it's not necessarily worth bothering with.
Similarly, a firewall is less necessary too. By default you'll find that there aren't many ports open on a default Linux machine, and those that are open are because you need it for some application that you've installed. Saying that, there are firewalls available if you really want to install one. Examples include Shorewall and Firestarter. Are you using the Aspire One behind a router which has a firewall built-in?
Antivirus on a Linux box isn't anywhere near as necessary as it is on a Windows machine, primarily because even if you did get a virus it would only run within the context of the user you are using - pretty much all the Linux users I know do not run under the 'root' (i.e. Administrator in Windows-speak) account unless they are doing stuff which specifically requires root access.
Again, unlike in Windows, it is perfectly possible to use your machine with a non-administrative account. In my experience, you are required to have admin privileges on Windows incredibly frequently. One of the reasons why I prefer the Unix-like approach of Linux... but that's another story for another day.
Near enough all the people I know who do use an antivirus application on their Linux machines do so to protect their Windows machines that are on the same network, not because they think that the Linux boxes are going to get infected. There are some viruses for Linux - although people often assume there aren't any - but they're so small in numbers and not in any way as damaging as a virus in Windows is, that it's not necessarily worth bothering with.
Similarly, a firewall is less necessary too. By default you'll find that there aren't many ports open on a default Linux machine, and those that are open are because you need it for some application that you've installed. Saying that, there are firewalls available if you really want to install one. Examples include Shorewall and Firestarter. Are you using the Aspire One behind a router which has a firewall built-in?
ps - not sure if you've already seen this, but in case you're wondering how to do stuff like install additional software on the Acer Aspire One, you can do this once you get access to the Advanced Mode.
Instructions on enabling the Advanced Mode can be found here... http://www.aspireoneuser.com/2008/07/09/aspire-one-advance-linpus-mode-hack/
This will then allow you to right-click on the desktop and opens up the machine to allow you to do whatever you want with it, rather than just relying on the handful of apps that Acer think you'll want to use and have stuck icons on your desktop for.
In particular, you'll be able to access the Package Manager to install or remove software... think of this like the Windows Add/Remove Programs thingy, but instead of only being able to uninstall apps, you can use this to also download and install compatible applications on your machine. You just search for either the name or the description of what you're looking for, it finds it, downloads it for you, installs and configures it all for you. No more hunting for dodgy .exe's off some strange website - you just download the software direct from the repository, so you know it can be trusted.
Instructions on enabling the Advanced Mode can be found here... http://www.aspireoneuser.com/2008/07/09/aspire-one-advance-linpus-mode-hack/
This will then allow you to right-click on the desktop and opens up the machine to allow you to do whatever you want with it, rather than just relying on the handful of apps that Acer think you'll want to use and have stuck icons on your desktop for.
In particular, you'll be able to access the Package Manager to install or remove software... think of this like the Windows Add/Remove Programs thingy, but instead of only being able to uninstall apps, you can use this to also download and install compatible applications on your machine. You just search for either the name or the description of what you're looking for, it finds it, downloads it for you, installs and configures it all for you. No more hunting for dodgy .exe's off some strange website - you just download the software direct from the repository, so you know it can be trusted.
Can anyone recommend a Linux antivirus solution - preferably free? I handle a lot of USB sticks and like to scan them first before sticking them in my main machine. I'm using AVG (for Linux) at the moment but I'm a Linux newb and wondered if I was missing something better. Cheers.
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ClamAV.
SELinux, but be warned, it is the most strict of any such systems I have ever come across. If you're new to Linux, give it a while before trying it. The benefit of trying it is that it will teach you to be very precise and you will have one hell of a learning curve.
I love/hate it personally but it is the gold standard (as used by the NSA)
I love/hate it personally but it is the gold standard (as used by the NSA)
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There are no cross species viri that I know of, so you can't catch windows viri in Linux. As pointed out above, a virus can wreak havoc on a user account but can't hose the system like a winvirus can.
Of course, using your new, superior penguin to check the sticks out and clean them on behalf of the lesser, win-afflicted users is a great thing.
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PS:
There ARE rootkits and exploits which could allow a cracker to take control of the machine or make it crash, but the way I usually explain this is.........
Windows is "mostly harmless", a compromised WinBox can spew emails slowly using outhouse-excuse, take part in DDOS attacks, and wait for it's owner to type their CC number so it can send it to China, but that's about all. Which is why it's not THAT important that it has non-existent security. Think of it as a water pistol protected by a sign saying "please do not misuse this weapon".
Linux on the other hand is like a nuclear silo, rows of barbed wire, machine gun nests, mines, dogs and general nastiness......because with the tools available on even a fairly standard desktop installation, if a linux/other unix box is taken over, it can cause serious devastation.
Netbooks and stuff are fairly well nailed down by the way....however, having so many 000's of machines around with identical linux installations, will make it a little easier and a little more worthwhile for f*tards to come up with some sort of attack down the line.
There ARE rootkits and exploits which could allow a cracker to take control of the machine or make it crash, but the way I usually explain this is.........
Windows is "mostly harmless", a compromised WinBox can spew emails slowly using outhouse-excuse, take part in DDOS attacks, and wait for it's owner to type their CC number so it can send it to China, but that's about all. Which is why it's not THAT important that it has non-existent security. Think of it as a water pistol protected by a sign saying "please do not misuse this weapon".
Linux on the other hand is like a nuclear silo, rows of barbed wire, machine gun nests, mines, dogs and general nastiness......because with the tools available on even a fairly standard desktop installation, if a linux/other unix box is taken over, it can cause serious devastation.
Netbooks and stuff are fairly well nailed down by the way....however, having so many 000's of machines around with identical linux installations, will make it a little easier and a little more worthwhile for f*tards to come up with some sort of attack down the line.