[homesy]

Hi,

I have just bought an Acer Aspire One which is running Linux Lite. I can do the basics, (check emails...) but I tried to download antivirus but had problems installing it. It said that it had installed, but I do not know how to get it working.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Ryan

[namenotfound]

Linux doesn't really need antivirus. I've been running Linux on my computer for years with no antivirus and never had a problem with viruses or spyware. That's why Linux is great

[gotrootdude]

What was the name of the antivirus program?

[gotrootdude]

I'll agree with namenotfound for the most part. There's really not any virus' in the wild to infect linux..

If you do run a antivirus, it's generally so you can use linux to clean up a windows machine or to clean email if your using it as a mail server.

[homesy]

thanks for the quick replies.

What about any other programs which may come in handy? How do I get these downloaded, installed and running?

Thanks
Ryan

[namenotfound]

I haven't used Linpus before, but if it's like other distributions of Linux then it should have a "Synaptic Package Manager" which you can use to install programs.

[homesy]

how do I find that??

[lotuseclat79]

Hi homesy,

I disagree with the assertion that there are no viruses for Linux. Clam AV is free for download to any Linux home user. While it may be true that there are not that many, the ones that are out there know how to infect Linux.

I also recommend downloading chkrootkit and rkhunter to scan your Linux system for trojans.

Do yourself a favor and heed the advice in this message!

-- Tom

[prunejuice]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

I disagree with the assertion that there are no viruses for Linux. Clam AV is free for download to any Linux home user.

I think it's generally understood that AV programs for Linux are to keep viruses from spreading to windows machines.

Having said that, I've never used anti-virus in my Linux machines.

[RootbeaR]

Originally Posted by prunejuice

I think it's generally understood that AV programs for Linux are to keep viruses from spreading to windows machines.

That is my take as well. But there is the real threat of rootkits as lotuseclat79 has pointed out.

Caution: I would be careful of downloading programs from just anywhere on the internet.
The forums for my choice distro will not assist you if you have not downloaded and installed properly using the package manager.

So,I too, also recommend downloading chkrootkit and rkhunter to scan your Linux system for rootkits, but do so using your package manager.

[DoubleHelix]

I think what homesy is asking is how to download and install programs that didn't come bundled with the Linux distro. That's a legitimate question if you're used to Windows where you can go all over the web and download hundreds of thousands of programs, games, utilities, etc.

Linux isn't quite so friendly and open in that area. Installing programs is a bit more involved.

[namenotfound]

There are several sites that will offer a linux version (as well as windows and mac versions) to download, which usually come with installation instructions.

Usually, a program can be installed with a couple of lines in the Terminal

[lotuseclat79]

The best way to download and install Linux programs are ones that are already ported to Linux and have been added to the Linux repository for your distribution. Look for a Linux User Guide to your distribution on the distribution's web site, download it and follow the instructions for adding repositories to your installation depending on your package manager for installing software.

That said, usually LInux downloads otherwise are in tar gzip format or tar bzip2 format and some are even in tar zip format.

-- Tom

[namenotfound]

The most common packages I see on websites are .tar.bz2, .rpm, & .deb and sometimes .zip

.tar.bz2 and .zip are usually for source or unknown linux distros
.rpm is usually for Fedora, Mandriva, and Suse
.deb is for distros derived from Debian, which includes Ubuntu & Kubuntu

What I like about Debian distros is that .deb packages work just like .exe on Windows, in the sense that all you do is double-click on it and it installs on its own, without need for Terminal command lines.

[phatfred]

According to this site:

"Package management is courtesy of Synaptic but as Linpus is really Fedora, packages are RPM and presumably Yum could be used on the command line"

I have no idea how the repositories would be set up though, they may already be set up or perhaps you could start here (this site takes a LONG time to load.)