Linux and Anti-virus software
 

Why Linux os does not need an antivirus program ? almost all the leading antivirus vendors are already released AV program for linux.. what are the basic protection mechanism having linux machines against viruses and malwares???

Well, let's try to explain the differences between Linux and Window$.
First of all it's not so useful give a thread a title like "Plz answer this" so, please, change the title.
Linux has an architechture very different from Win platforms.
To start with it's a multiuser/network/POSIX/*NIX-like OS while windows started as a single user OS without a serious network support and it's not POSIX compatible.
In second analysis a normal user, in linux, cannot perform system changes. In windows only recently we can see this feature, called UAC (User Account Control), and the ridicolous thing is that most of users disable this feature.
Most of Linux antivirus programs are intended to scan the system in search of WINDOWS malware.
Why? Since Linux can be used as a server for Windows systems and cannot see if a file, completely innocuous for Linux systems, is a menace for Windows machines that will connect to itself.
And more, malware programmers target Windows machines since they're most used and windows users are very less smart and advanced than Linux ones.
I know this is a semplicistic answer but it explain the core of the facts, I think.

This is one nice and intelligent question.

We do not need antivirus for the following possible/ obvious reasons:

--Applications handling personal/business/critical data are being run in the $USER authority, unlike the other OS from Redmond. This could probably mean that viruses, if they may come into the /tmp or /var/tmp or wherever it can land still it is wanting favorable environment to infect others. It merely sleeps there until the moment Mr. Clamav will discover its hiding and purge it out. I have experienced this one many time. I run clamav only by weekly, before my cron backup runs. You can download Clamav antivirus from here if you want, although it is not necessary still it is good for "mental health" to those who came from M$windows. In addition to this, my experience tells me that these trojans sleeping idle in the /tmp or wherever, they are gathered mainly from web clients and that notorious "wine" application; yet, having came into my system they are unable to move.

--Unix Philosophy is so good that, given a bonafide Gnu/Linux/*nix distro it should take a remote virus coder a hundred years to penetrate your $USER environment --he needs another malicious grandson to complete that work against you. noexec. nosuid. virus-no-way.

--Free Software Costs not a day's wage. Advanced Gnu/linux users hold no fear at breaking the system and install another only to break the latter and change to another distro again, so on and on; this means --here in the free and open software world we pick and trash OS's the luxury of a prodigal son, "complete FREEDOM without fear" the very opposite of "blue-screen-nightmare" capitalized in the microsoft horror world that devoured Billions of Dollars from the pockets of dull/lazy/simpleton users. The point is: get me a virus coder, if his grandson be as villain as he, he can break my Slackware 14, by the time I shall be running Version 33 (maybe, ...G-d bless PV) :) --my data will no longer be there. In this kind of computing world virus coders are wasting their time.

There are more reasons than that, and even better explained by others who have the gift of eloquence.


Fear and ignorance: is an ancient capital for pecuniary enrichment. Companies simply have to follow their clients wherever they go just to make money. Most antivirus buyers from the Gnu/linux/*nix world are NOT the natives but the migrants from microsoft horror-world who carry with them the same "fear and mental dependence" to companies. Not only antivirus, sooner or later (as our freedom world increase in population) you'd be seeing "Backup Software for GNU/Linux/Unix @ $115 copyrighted to ONLY ONE system" --same foolishness against the fools-- when a simple terminal command "~$ tar czf myhome.tar.gz /home/$USER" can complete that work without losing a penny. Examine these types of backup software they're nothing but scripts of commands if, cd, cat, grep, rsync, tar, bzip2, etc. things that are just waiting under your fingers. The margin aimed by these antivirus companies are the post-M$ migrants coming to our freedom land. Don't wonder, that's the Law of Supply & Demand. So long as the man is lazy he is required to pay; and many will offer that solution --solutions to supplement the laziness.

So study Gnu/linux. Study how to escape from the trappings of these horror-mongers from the old world. They (the lazy) gain say "Owww Gnu/linux poses a high learning curve!" True a decade ago. But not today. Righteous men are making it easier and enjoying to learn Gnu/linux today, to mention some: Debian people, Canonical, RedHat, the Mint team, and not the least, the people from www.linuxquestions.org" :)


Avoid sinning and increase the good works.

Here they are:

Pseudo-Sins:

su root
sudo -i
sudo wine
wine iexplorer
login: USER <auto>
login: "root" <$PASSWD>

Pseudo good works:

nosuid
noexec
login: "$USER" <$PASSWD>
&&
@ /usr/bin/firefox <type URL> www.linuxquestions.org

Hope that helps.

Goodluck.

its because Linux doesn't use 'warez', software is open source.
there are many Linux flavors, its probably not easy to make virus run on them all and not worth the effort given how many PCs run Linux vs Windows.

While Linux is not a Big Red Target for viruses/virii like it is in the Windows world, Linux systems are NOT immune to transmission of exploitable resources.

The most notable scenarios are shared-hosting and pop email accounts that have Windows-based clients using them.

Few months ago, I had also post a similar question, so once go through it at: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...es-4175427932/
I hope it will help you to clarify things!

thank you