Windows to Linux switchers & anti-virus?

[opethdisciple]

Seriously thinking of switching my daily workhorse PC to Ubuntu.

Are there any of you who have completely switched from Windows to Linux on the desktop?

I've been running through my head all the software I might need and one thing I'm not sure about is Anti-Virus.

The consensus on the web is you don't really need to run an antivirus on a Linux distro.

Do you run antivirus on your Linux desktop? Which do you recommend?

My Windows PC hardly gets hit by any viruses but there was on about 6+ months back where I was hit by a drive by crypto mining trojan. Windows Defender picked it up and quarantined it, but as it's a browser based mining trojan if my Ubuntu box also picked it up without antivirus software it would not of got detected and would have presumable run in the browser for as long as I had the session open.

 

[Moley]

You can install Clam-AV but viruses are not a major issue on Linux at the moment.

 

[opethdisciple]

I've seen Clam-AV is available but is it always scanning or is it just an on demand scanner?

From what I gather on the net it's an on demand scanner.

Sophos might be what I'm looking for. Am I right in assuming that say a drive by download through a browser WOULD be intercepted by Sophos?

 

[pete910]

I've seen Clam-AV is available but is it always scanning or is it just an on demand scanner?

From what I gather on the net it's an on demand scanner.

Sophos might be what I'm looking for. Am I right in assuming that say a drive by download through a browser WOULD be intercepted by Sophos?

Clam-AV can do either tbh. Have it on my server and runs every night @ 2am

 

[opethdisciple]

Clam-AV can do either tbh. Have it on my server and runs every night @ 2am

So your saying Clam-AV does protect against browser based attacks? Things that try to enter via your http/https session?

 

[pete910]

So your saying Clam-AV does protect against browser based attacks? Things that try to enter via your http/https session?

It will do both on demand and timed scan intervals.

If you use squid(Proxy) together with clam it will scan http traffic, Https trafic is encrypted thus the s so that can't be scanned.

 

[opethdisciple]

Actually I found Ubuntu 18.10 to be riddled with bugs.

One that was annoying me was when you pressed the lock button it would still display the gnome app menu despite the screen being locked.

Then it would start glitching out and flashing.

I switched to Fedora 29 and this in comparison feels snappier and rock stable.

 

[wiiija]

Actually I found Ubuntu 18.10 to be riddled with bugs.

One that was annoying me was when you pressed the lock button it would still display the gnome app menu despite the screen being locked.

Then it would start stitching out and flashing.

I switched to Fedora 29 and this in comparison feels snappier and rock stable.

I'm no fan of Ubuntu either, they manged to take the lovely looking Gnome DDE and make it look ugly, I know its easy to change but it just doesn't seem smooth enough for me, KDE Neon now, all the way!

 

[opethdisciple]

I am still thinking of switching my main workstation form Windows 10 to Fedora 29.

I'd probably just run it with out antivirus. :/

 

[pete910]

I'm no fan of Ubuntu either

Nice to see am not the only one

I've tried no end of DE's over the years and always ended back on KDE. Only thing with KDE is use it with a Intel/AMD card for best experience.

I am still thinking of switching my main workstation form Windows 10 to Fedora 29.

I'd probably just run it with out antivirus. :/

Not tried Fedora in a while, Switched from Mageia to Antergos when Ryzen released, It's been a good distro tbh. May give fedora a spin in a VM as heard good things about fedora recently.

 

[opethdisciple]

Nice to see am not the only one

I've tried no end of DE's over the years and always ended back on KDE. Only thing with KDE is use it with a Intel/AMD card for best experience.



Not tried Fedora in a while, Switched from Mageia to Antergos when Ryzen released, It's been a good distro tbh. May give fedora a spin in a VM as heard good things about fedora recently.

Yes. I have my Fedora set up on my Linux workstation and it is running very nicely. Feels very snappy and stable in comparison to Ubuntu 18.10.

I got round two issues I had with it.

1. Out the box HTML5 doesnt work in Firefox. You have to install some extra packages via rpmfusion (due to licensing).

2. I have had to turn off ipv6 as it was slowing down DNS lookups.

I would definitely try it out if you are a fan of Linux Distro's.

Now I'm just contemplating switching my Windows 10 machine over or not.

Tell me I'm not mad if I run Fedora without an antivirus?

I just cant seem to find what I'm looking for which is a free well reviewed antivirus solution that will do real-time scanning.

I know I can install Clam-AV but that seems to be aimed at servers and isn't real-time as far as I understand it. Or am I wrong?

---

Don't expect Fedora to have any special UI. It's fairly ordinary Gnome. But actually this is what makes it feel snappy and responsive.

This is interesting about Fedora 30. Supposedly might have support for 'The Deepin Desktop'

 

[opethdisciple]

One thing I am trying to do is figure out how to create passworded 7z files.

It seems out of the box Fedora can create and extract them but no option to add a password.

According to this Fedora 19 could do it. But I do not get the same option in Fedora 29.

I figured it out!

 

[bscott]

I switched from Windows 10 to Fedora around a couple of months ago and am very happy with the move. I initially installed Ubuntu and Fedora partitions alongside Windows 10 but quickly found Fedora more to my taste than Ubuntu. The only problem I think I had with Ubuntu was with vnc and gnome whereas Fedora worked perfectly.

There is more work to do setting up Fedora with the additional repos but that’s a one off.

I have now removed Ubuntu and shrunk the Windows partition to the minimum and use Fedora as my daily driver. I booted into Windows a couple of times, once to create a usb bootable Bios update for a Thinkpad T410 and the other time to look for some missing files but I think I could have done both from Fedora. I will keep the Windows partition for now but will eventually get rid of it and put windows on a VM with Fedora as the host.

I am just waiting for Docker stable on Fedora 29 before upgrading from 28.

One problem I have had with Gnome (and I don’t think it just affects Fedora) is the desktop sometimes freezes when I drag the mouse in some fashion. Not sure exactly what the mouse operation is and it doesn’t happen often but it is pretty annoying when it does.

All my essential apps either have Linux versions or as good as or better alternatives. One app I do miss though is Tower (git gui). Another app I very occassionally use is Enterprise Architect which I tried under Wine but really hate the fonts. I will try and find an alternative when I have the time.

I also use a MacBook Pro which is now classed as obsolete and I have semi-retired that in favour of a Thinkpad T430 running Fedora. The only OS X software I need a Linux alternative for is Devonthink which I use for document management.

Overall I enjoy using Fedora/Gnome much more than either Windows 10 or OS X and feel a lot more productive.

 

[opethdisciple]

I switched from Windows 10 to Fedora around a couple of months ago and am very happy with the move. I initially installed Ubuntu and Fedora partitions alongside Windows 10 but quickly found Fedora more to my taste than Ubuntu. The only problem I think I had with Ubuntu was with vnc and gnome whereas Fedora worked perfectly.

There is more work to do setting up Fedora with the additional repos but that’s a one off.

I have now removed Ubuntu and shrunk the Windows partition to the minimum and use Fedora as my daily driver. I booted into Windows a couple of times, once to create a usb bootable Bios update for a Thinkpad T410 and the other time to look for some missing files but I think I could have done both from Fedora. I will keep the Windows partition for now but will eventually get rid of it and put windows on a VM with Fedora as the host.

I am just waiting for Docker stable on Fedora 29 before upgrading from 28.

One problem I have had with Gnome (and I don’t think it just affects Fedora) is the desktop sometimes freezes when I drag the mouse in some fashion. Not sure exactly what the mouse operation is and it doesn’t happen often but it is pretty annoying when it does.

All my essential apps either have Linux versions or as good as or better alternatives. One app I do miss though is Tower (git gui). Another app I very occassionally use is Enterprise Architect which I tried under Wine but really hate the fonts. I will try and find an alternative when I have the time.

I also use a MacBook Pro which is now classed as obsolete and I have semi-retired that in favour of a Thinkpad T430 running Fedora. The only OS X software I need a Linux alternative for is Devonthink which I use for document management.

Overall I enjoy using Fedora/Gnome much more than either Windows 10 or OS X and feel a lot more productive.

I've just spent the evening switching my main daily machine from Windows 10 to Fedora 29.

The first issue I hit which might be relevant for you was my desktop was very slow and would occasionally freeze.

Turns out fedora doesn't play nice with Nvidia GPU's. After I installed the proprietary drivers everything is OK.

If you have an Nvidia GPU then this could be your problem also.

Follow this guide. Dunno what the nonsense is after step 7 but just reboot and you should be good.

 

[pete910]

I know I can install Clam-AV but that seems to be aimed at servers and isn't real-time as far as I understand it. Or am I wrong?

Yes, it will do ondemand. You can use Clamtk which is a gui front end for Clam-av

Can't say I've used it tbh or any other on linux bar avast back in the day when messing.

Tell me I'm not mad if I run Fedora without an antivirus?

Not really, whilst there is always a chance the ratio diff between win and lin viruses is vastly lower for Linux. + you seem to be more adept regards OS and online usage.

Don't expect Fedora to have any special UI. It's fairly ordinary Gnome. But actually this is what makes it feel snappy and responsive.

Not a Gnome fan tbf, though like most other distros I dare say it gives the option on which DE you want during the install process.

 

[bscott]

Oh btw, forgot to mention that I haven’t bothered with av.

I do have an NVidia card and installed the proprietry drivers a couple of weeks ago. I don’t think I have had a freeze since then so that was probably it.

 

[InfiniteNoise]

Don't really need anti-virus.

Dropped Windows like 6 years ago, haven't looked back, best move I've made, not having to deal with Microsoft's crap is so nice.

 

[opethdisciple]

One thing which is really making me unhappy about using Fedora as my multimedia PC is the icons it uses for music and videos are rubbish.

I guess the issue here is Fedora is targeted at a different audience and I'm trying to use it as a multimedia OS.

I am happy with it on my workstation, but on this everyday multimedia PC I'm gonna give Ubuntu another shot.

 

[pete910]

One thing which is really making me unhappy about using Fedora as my multimedia PC is the icons it uses for music and videos are rubbish.

I guess the issue here is Fedora is targeted at a different audience and I'm trying to use it as a multimedia OS.

I am happy with it on my workstation, but on this everyday multimedia PC I'm gonna give Ubuntu another shot.

Change the icon set

No clue how to with Gnome, would have thought it's not vastly different to KDE or any othe tbh