Re: No antivirus?

From: Joseph David (david_at_frazmtn.com)
Date: 01/29/04 

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 09:45:18 -0800

Linux systems don't fragment files, therefore, they do not need to be
defragmented.

As for viruses in Linux, the reason they don't propagate is that in order to
do so, they must be executed. This is not done automatically in Linux as
it is in Windows. For a virus to work in Linux, it must be sent out with
instructions that a user (often it must be "root") execute the program,
which raises enough suspicion that it wouldn't be done by most experienced
Linux user. For those that would do this, it would only spread to a small
number of machines, and would die faster than it would spread.

That's why these programs aren't needed.

Randy Allen wrote:

> As a long time Windows user and a recent Linux user, there are two things
> that I used in Windows that I've heard repeatedly are not necessary in
> Linux. These are defragmentation and anti-virus programs. Can anyone
> tell me why there is no need for these in Linux?
> Thanks.
> Randy