I have used Linux for years without virus concerns. There are a few Linux viruses, but unless you are logged on as 'root', which is not to be advisable then it is hard for the virus to do any damage to your system. I have never had a problem, nor have I heard of anyone who has actually damaged their Linux system due to a virus. This is not to say that it can't happen, but this would likely be due to sloppiness or negligence more than anything.
I use Clam or Klam without a problem. The only time it seems to go into activity is when I am using Wine. Whenever an .exe or similar file is run, it does a virus scan. I have never done a system scan. One of the reasons why there are comparatively fewer Linux viruses compared to Windows is that Linux does not have executable file types per se. To make a file executable usually requires changing the properties. Also there is no Active X to worry about. The chief reason to worry about antivirus protection is not for your own protection, but for others. You can pass on Windows viruses without your system becoming infected. This alone makes it worthwhile. Some distros come with Klam or Clam antivirus installed and running in the background by default. I know that SimplyMEPIS used to have this feature. In my experience it has been easy to set up and use. I have used AVG in the past, but since clam is open source, it gets my vote. I use Clamwin on my Windows machines as well. When you are deleting files and folders from you home directory, be sure to check the hidden files. These have a dot before the directory name. You may have to turn this on by altering the settings in your file manager. Dolphin likes to turn this off while Konquerer will save the settings. In Gnome you can also save your settings in Nautilus, etc. Firefox saves its settings not in the Mozilla folder, but in the .mozilla folder. You can drag and copy them to your heart's content without a problem. It should not cause the kind of problem you describe. I have re-installed Linux hundreds of times without ever losing a single file. It is just a question of saving those that you want and dragging and dropping them back later. I have user directories for three versions of Linux in my home partition. Each has a slightly modified user name. When I wish to re-install a setup a new user id in /home and then drag the files that I want from the old one. It has never failed me. You can do this incrementally if you are nervous about it. If something messes up then you can delete the corrupted files and start over. I mention this so that others can learn from our collective experience. I don't want anyone to panic because they have no antivirus protection or to worry that installing one will cause problems. It shouldn't. Cheers, Roy ----- Original Message ---- From: Gary <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, January 21, 2008 2:41:04 PM Subject: [LINUX_Newbies] Re: how to process application for PCLinuxOS Anti-virus for Linux is not something that should be overlooked or sneered at. Bot-herders prize the Linux systems they manage to infect, because of both their rarity and stability. Some distros offer KlamAV (with a K) as a KDE frontend for personal PC use, but I've yet to get it to work on my PC's. A failed KlamAV install (download difficulties, couldn't get all the parts from the repository) wrecked Firefox so badly -- ALL extensions and themes nuked, and xpi reinstall rendered impossible -- I had to reinstall. And I mean I had to wipe my separate /home partition also, because /home/.* application data was so FUBAR'ed, it propagated into OS-only reinstall when I preserved old /home!!! Grisoft also offers their AVG Free antivirus for Linux. http://free. grisoft.com I really really liked AVG as a Windows user, but installing it under Linux looks to be a hideously technical process that I find a little too daunting just yet. It involves getting and installing a kernel module called "dazuko" from dazuko.org, then istalling AVG itself from tarball. 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