Linux ?s

[irishgodfather]

Is it true you need no AV with Linux ?
Also there seems to be no disk clean up or defrag tools.
Isn't it necessary to clean your HD and defrag it?
Thanks.
Bill

[DJanda]

Linux is not a popular as Windows (Neither is Mac) so there are few viruses (virii?) written for either of these operating systems. There is nothing inherent in either that actually prevents a virus from operating on the system. So, an Anti-Virus would be a good idea if you could find one. Never underestimate the ability of immature people (at heart if not in actual age). Having worked with Unix systems (Linux started as Unix 7 ported to the PC) I am familiar with a few light-hearted things that could be done to other peoples machines in a Unix network. More sinister things could just as easily have been done. But that's just me, I'm paranoid (with reason  -- once bit, twice shy  ).

As for disk cleanup and defrag -- Windows is derived from Microsoft's DOS system. DOS was written at a time when storage was expensive and very limited. On the very first PC's you only had a single density 370K floppy drive -- replaced shortly by the 640K double sided-double density then in a few years the 1.2M floppy. With such small storage space, efficient utilization of said space was the primary concern, so DOS was written to utilize every scrap of space available which resulted in the now familiar fragmentation of files. With the advent of cheap storage space, Microsoft has been making strides to reduce fragmentation. On the other hand Unix/Linux were created in environments with plenty of storage, so they inherently do little fragmentation. There was a big discussion of this recently.

[irishgodfather]

Thanks a lot for your help.
After using windows so long this is Greek to me.

[couttsj]

Is it true you need no AV with Linux ?

You do not really need AV with Windows either. Having said that, it needs to be qualified. There is no replacement for common sense and good operating practice. I have never run AV on my own personal machine, and have never been infected with a virus. But my situation is not the norm; network security is part of what I do. Linux systems are generally run by users that are more computer literate than Windows users, and there are more Windows systems out there to pick from. Consequently, Windows is a more popular target. AV programs are a good backstop, and historically Microsoft has made it relatively to break into Windows systems. They have tightened things up with the last 2 operating systems (Vista & Win 7), but it is not an easy task when people are used to lax security systems.

Also there seems to be no disk clean up or defrag tools.
Isn't it necessary to clean your HD and defrag it?
Thanks.
Bill

NTFS is not as bad as the old FAT system used in early Windows operating systems. And as DJanda said, the large disk sizes you see now make it unnecessary on most moderately used systems. Because the file sizes are so much larger, the minimum allocation is also much larger. Also, I believe that Unix/Linux maps the disk to memory, making the memory requirements for these operating systems relative to the size of the disk. For moderately sized disks, Unix/Linux will run on less memory than a corresponding Windows operating system.

J.A. Coutts

[DJanda]

After using windows so long this is Greek to me.

You'll learn to love it 

[Black Viper]

Is it true you need no AV with Linux ?

As stated above, no OS is immune to issues.

[irishgodfather]

Well it wouldn't update so bye bye back it went.
Thanks for the help.

[WildcatDan]

So what distribution were you using?  There's lots of flavors when it comes to Linux and some are a bit friendlier to the average user than others.  A different distribution might work better for you.  If you've already gone through the trouble of re-formating your hdd, you might as well play around with some others.  Here's a link to a good spot to find links to other distributions as well as information: http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=04670. 

Having worked with Unix systems (Linux started as Unix 7 ported to the PC) I am familiar with a few light-hearted things that could be done to other peoples machines in a Unix network. More sinister things could just as easily have been done. But that's just me, I'm paranoid (with reason   -- once bit, twice shy  ).

I remember learning Assembly language on a Unix system back in '90.  There was a reason the instructors put us on a separate system while we were learning.  It was easy to accidentally dump the system with a little failure in logic.  With that said, it wouldn't take much to exploit things and direct it with a more malicious intent.  Being one year removed from Robert Morris's escapades, however, made us all a little gun shy about attempting such things.

[trashy]

Is it true you need no AV with Linux ?

It really all depends on the use.  In layman's terms, no you don't need Norton Anti-Virus, McAfee or any of the other commercial Anti-Virus applications that are common with Windows boxes.  There are plenty of Open Source solutions available along with some good old "common sense".

Also there seems to be no disk clean up or defrag tools.
Isn't it necessary to clean your HD and defrag it?
Thanks.
Bill

There is a "defrag" tool available depending on the file system that you are using.  The most common file system used is EXT3 and lately, EXT4 which kind of "eliminate" the need for a defrag.

The whole idea of "defrag" came from the early versions of the FAT file system because storage space was so "precious".  With today's large volume hard drives and optimized file systems, it's not nearly as important.  Another factor to consider is file size.  "Back in the day", a file over 1MB was considered HUGE.  Today files are much bigger, especially if you are dealing with multimedia files (sound and video).