Oh No ! .... not that one again .... every time I hear that expression it irks me sorely ! There is no such thing as common sense , only common stupidity . Good sense is uncommon .... don't take my word for it .... take a look around the planet . Do you see much evidence of common sense ? ..... thought not . I'm trying to make a machine that will generate green energy , powered by stupidity .... ( results so far have been disappointing ) . Next I will turn my attention to creating power from idle chatter and gossip .... surely there must be an infinite supply of it . All of the above said in utmost jest by the way .... Well ....... probably. EDIT Oops , just noticed I'm in a Linux forum .... my apologies ... ... I'm still a newbie !
@Mutoid: Point taken. And I tried to be as kind as possible towards humanity (Mind the children, dear...their virgin ears (eyes) ) I could have said something worse, like "People are stupid and dangerous in large numbers" I could have also mentioned that the fanboy pissing contest between Windows and Linux, Linux and MAC, Windows and MAC will go on ad infinitum...ad nauseum. Truth is, as long as I get to have My cake and eat it, I don't even care. Oh, and no offense taken.
When we are at the first screen of the new installed system what security measures should we take to make it even tighter? Should we install some new linux security software with app-get (like those from android store) or are there commands we should use to improve security of the system? Is there some kind of 'control panel'/'services.msc' to disable things that are not really needed? What about this botnet? How do we get a system infected by it? Are we safe if we do not download/run and/or visit any webpage suspicious? I'm downloading solydx and trisquel besides mint and ubuntu as someone said these are good to start with. I'll use them on a pendrive first. If I put these isos directly on the usb using rufus will they become "live" distros?
This is very much just my opinion as I'm not a Linux security authority... But from what I've read, there have been a few attempts at bash invulnerabilities and now Apache (well SSH) to expose deficiencies the last few months... kinda feels like an attempt to gain AV support ( the last one, given what it takes, for a 150GB/s attack takes some funding).. just a cynical thought... given the profitability/proliferation of AV co's and all ...
@Superfly: There's a thin line between cynicism and truth. I've seen things that lead me to believe that what You say is true. After watching the antics of big business for 40 years, I wouldn't put it past them. But, since We do not have any real proof, we can only say that it's our suspicion. However: Suspicions are what motivates and compels us to protect ourselves.
@Michaela Joy - Here in Brazil we have a say like this: "Where there is smoke, there is fire." So if I use Linux I'm quite safe? No need for anti-virus or stuff like that?
@wmh: You might say that I'm volunteering as a test subject. I'm not going to install an antivirus. There's really nothing of any great importance on My machine. So let's see what happens. Will keep everybody posted.
Virus' are written on Linux systems to infect Windows systems. 99% of the time that statement is true. There are vulnerabilities in Linux BUT they are not exploited as often. Unless you are a high profile target then you are relatively safe. As Linux becomes more popular the more worried I will become. I have never ran any AV software on Linux.
They will target servers first as that is the most high profile ..we just need to be aware that as Linux becomes more popular we as standard users need to make sure we follow proper security standards.
There's no harm in running an AV - ClamAV will protect you from stuff like XOR.DDoS, - I have been testing Bitdefender (free) as some of my clients insist on an (known) AV... no overhead that I can see thus far...
hm. i cannot help feeling that if no virusses, trojans, or rootkits existed, the av-companies would have to pay crooks to build and propagate them, or they would have nothing to eat.. all these so-called revelations by so-called security companies fall in almost the same category... for what do they achieve? they say; look; if you stand on your hands and walk backwards, your os can be hacked. what they achieve is that otto normalverbraucher and joe the plumbler draw their creditcards to protect themselves, and slow down their systems with useless software.. if i was a crook, i would not to remotest degree be interested in the few euros or dollars that otto or joe have on their bankaccounts.. botnets may be another matter, but as i understood neither ubuntu or mint has the remote control software to enable xor to do a brute force attack..
I think a lot of comes down to personalities too. Some people are ultra paranoid at the best of times either way, even if it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Linux was completely 100% secure (yes I know there's no such thing) but if there was an AV available (just in case) some people would still choose to use it.
Since this thread is about experienced Windows users moving to Linux, you need to take the paranoia in context. For example, in Windows I know the tools that I need to keep an eye on which processes are using the internet, and I know how to use them, more or less. (I'm more concerned about bandwidth usage than spying, but the principle applies.) I know Linux is much better at the networking stuff than Windows, but I don't have a clue about which tools to use, let alone how to use them. That's where the paranoia comes from - you know Windows was spying; you moved to Linux just to get away from that, but Linux is not telling you anything reassuring - you are just expected to take it on blind faith and hearsay evidence. There is a saying in India - the person who has burnt his lips drinking scalding hot milk will sip gingerly even while drinking ice-cold buttermilk. Give us time - we'll lose our paranoia eventually, but don't berate us for not letting go of it overnight.
Very profound and thanx for that The basic principle of Linux is openness ...no hidden agenda's - we realise it's a mindset change that takes some time, so no rush...