[Scottish] Linux stuff...

[Colin McKinnon]

On Saturday 24 February 2007 13:37, babaguy wrote:
>
> I don't know if my last e-mail got through or not, 

It got here. If I could be bothered reading the headers I'd work out when - 
let me know if its a big problem.

> I was asking any advice 
> anyone might have for a decent Anti-virus software that is recognised by
> and cooperates with Linux....(Ubuntu doesn't want to recognise Avast! and
> I've read many posts in Avast! forums about the difficulties of making it
> do so...)
>
>
>
> I *did* check with one SysAdmin guy who consulted a Linux friend who is
> apparently ultra conscious about computer security and apprently *he* said
> that he doesn't bother with anti-virus software in Linux, because the
> permissions to get into Linux in the first place are so dense, that it's
> not that necessary....
>

Anti-virus is not required for Linux (but it is if you use Linux as a server 
for Microsoft boxes). 

You should have the firewall configured (perhaps one of the Ubuntu users out 
there can suggest how to go about this) also you should keep your own stuff 
well clear of what the distro installs (I have /home on a seperate partition) 
and set up a basic IDS (like LIDS) to monitor any unauthorized changes to the 
system.

If you do need Anti-Virus, checkout CLAM (GPL) which hooks in to all sorts of 
servers (see the CLAM website for more info). If you prefer / need commercial 
software, CA-Trend or Kaspersky did well in the recent VB tests 
(http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/2007/02)

>
> ALSO: How do I open new programs once I've downloaded them in UBU? It asks
> me to open them with Archive Manager, but then Archive Manager never
> recognises them - or it asks me what program to OPEN the new program with,
> and - *I* don't know....I thought programs open themselves by and large,
> when you ask them to do so - or is this a hopelessly backward attitude...?
>

This is lots of questions rolled up into one. The file manager is probably 
using the file exteanstion to try to determine the file type and associate it 
with an application. You should read the chapter on permissions in the Rute 
(find a mirror from Google).

>
> ONE LAST ? - I tried to copy a URL (or some text, can't remember which)
> from an open web page (in the Ubuntu web browser Mozilla) and paste it into
> Open Office Writer (the UBU office suite) and when I opened Writer the
> "paste" option (and several *other* options) were not enabled.....

It must have thought the paste buffer was empty, or not text/image/a format it 
recognises. Works find on my box (paste from Firefox 1.x to OO 2.0 on SuSe).

C.