[Same old linux AV discussion thread] was Re: A little confused

[NoOp]

On 08/29/2010 10:56 PM, Nils Kassube wrote:
> James Takac wrote:
>> On Monday 30 August 2010 05:30:03 Ioannis Vranos wrote:
>> > I am not going to install an antivirus in my Linux host, in case I
>> > forward some document with virus to some Windows user.
>> > 
>> > It is their responsibility to have an antivirus on their machines,
>> > or to change their OS.
> 
>> Whilst it may be their responsibility to check their end it doesn't
>> negate the sender's responsibility to check what they send is safe.
>> It'd be like giving a poisoned glass of water to a thirsty person
>> and saying they should have checked it. Likewise so should you as
>> the one giving it.
> 
> But you don't make a chemical analysis of the water you get from someone 
> else before you give it to a thirsty person, do you? Well, maybe you 
> check that it doesn't smell like gasoline or that it tastes like water. 
> But that would be the analogy for opening the document before giving it 
> away. Of course I don't give away things where I know it is (only) a 
> virus and not the expected contents, but I don't accept the obligation 
> to carry the burden and check everything for hidden Windows viruses that 
> don't affect my machine. After all one of the reasons for using Linux is 
> that I don't want to slow down my machine with unnecessary antivirus 
> software.

Using an on-demand linux AV doesn't slow down anything until you perform
the scan. Be reasonable; there *are* non-commercial environments (as
mentioned in my previous posts in this thread) that make installing &
using an linux AV *does* make sense.

Keep in mind that the OP (a recent Windows) user may have a dual-boot
Win/linux system. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather scan the
Win partition for viruses/trojans/whatever from the linux partition than
from the Win partition. Also, many users will maintain a Win machine on
their home network (particularly while trying/testing linux); do you not
think that it makes sense to use an linux based AV to scan the Win machine?

The choice to use, or not use, an AV on an linux box are the same as any
other application you install. Whether the application 'slows down your
machine' is entirely up to you.