do i need an antivirus for my linux version, somone told me its only windows that needs antivirus
The overwhelming majority of virusses is aimed at windows users, since windows has by far the greatest marketshare (biggest target) and a system architecture that is quite vulnerable. Ideal combination for people that wish to wreak havoc. However, linux (and mac) virusses do exist. If you plan to do a lot of unsafe surfing, using open wifi connections from strangers, installing stuff as root without knowing what it is and so on - get a scanner.
Welcome to the forums! Think of anti-virus as the cement that fills in the holes of the Windows OS. Linux has no such holes, and thus the consensus is that there is no need since there are only about 40 known viruses for Linux (compared with 60,000 for Windows) yet it is still important to make sure you protect your data from hackers etc... so in open Wi-Fi areas i would be careful.
And those 40 only exist in the lab were they where written as proofs of concept against older versions of linux and they probably don't work anymore. However that doesn't mean you should be lax about security either. You still shouldn't run executables sent to you by unknown individuals or in fact any executables which you cannot be 100% sure about. You can install anti-virus applications for linux, mostly these are run on-demand against specific files or to filter email, they don't usually need to be resident in memory chewing up resources like they do on windows. See ClamAV (KlamAV for a GUI) and apps like chkrootkit. Only install applications from trusted sources, in most cases this means through the Add/Remove programs application. e.g. Don't download and run applications direct from a website. You still need to run a low level, lightweight firewall, just because linux is generally more secure doesn't mean that people can't get in if you are running insecure network applications. You don't really need an application level firewall like you might on Windows, since you can place greater trust in signed applications on linux. Don't connect to untrusted networks, wifi etc without taking the precautions of a firewall. Generally it's just a case of using common sense. It's almost unheard of that you'll get a virus using linux, you'll only get hacked if you are careless about firewalls and passwords.
Valid points. All I would add is if you connect to open networks, consider using some sort of a VPN. http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/VPN http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=linux+ ... =firefox-a
Probably the only reason the average desktop/laptop user would need an anti virus on Linux is if you like to send a lot of forwarded e-mails to people. A lot of viruses come in e-mail attachments - they will not affect your Linpus Aspire by any measure, but you may help to spread them by forwarding the e-mail without realising it. So if that's what you're worried about then MAYBE you may need one. Otherwise - naaa
I use it as part of my spam filtering, just because I'd rather spend my time doing better things than hand sorting spam. However all my email will be filtered before it reaches the One ...
When you say 'run a low level, lightweight firewall' can you give an example of what you mean? I'd like to set this up on mine as I need to be able to use hotel / train / coffee shop networks as well as my own wifi
