Linux: Spyware, Adware, & Viruses?

R

RandysWay

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 5, 2004
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Hi everybody. I've never really tried Linux before. To make a long story short, I have a laptop which my sister (26 yrs) always uses to browse the web, make reports, print, etc. Basic things. In the process, she usually gets dozens of viruses and spyware/adware each session. Dont ask me how; I question her and she completely denies it. To make it worse, she uses my laptop which is currently running Windows XP Pro.

I've had a simple idea while on the john; password protect XP and install Linux for her. Bingo! So, after reading for awhile I've chosen Mandrake as it seems the most easiest to use. But, my main question is; how common is spyware, adware & viruses on the linux platform?


Thanks for your help.

Randy
 
No adware or spyware. (This could be changing, I've heard of firefox/mozilla plug-ins being used by spyware companies, but if anything it would be easy to remove if it ever did happen.)

Very few viruses and most of those require specific services running.

Your a hell of a lot safer than XP at least.
 
Thanks for the reply. Should I run an antivirus program? If so, whats a good one?
What about a spyware/adware application? Whats a good one?


:) Thanks.
 
I wouldl't worry about it too much. Maybe just run a firewall, I'm sure Mandrake comes with one.

If you use firefox, you shouldn't have too many problems either. I have never seen any mozilla spyware apps yet, just heard rumours about them. But there is no spyware scanner out there for linux because there isn't a need fro one.

But if you really want a virus scanner then I would go with F-prot
 
The simple answer really is 'dont worry about it', at least... yet (in a few years, maybe). There are of course a few exceptions, but nothing I would worry about for what you are describing the use of the system to be.

In this situation though I am not sure linux is the answer. If you want to try it, encourage it's use, etc thats great, but if you just want your sister to do those things on your computer just secure it enough to prevent all the crapware from getting in. Having her use Firefox would probably stop ... what .... everything? Don't let her get anywhere near Outlook/OE and make sure the system is up-to-date, including office, and you should be good to go.
 
a good 95% of the software you'll be using on linux, maybe more, is written by common people. these people use their own software, expect others to use it, and there's a level of competiton between competing projects. Therefore, you'll never find spyware or adware in truly opensource projects, just because both have zero positives to any moral person.
give linux a try, i think you'll like it, but if you like it i sense you'll eventually move away from mandrake - its a decent distro to wet your feet with, but i never fealt it went much deeper than that (which is hopefully good for your sister).
 
While I think your sister should give linux a try, I wonder if you've tried locking down her system completely yet?

Basically, make her run as a limited user. That way, SHE can't install crap. If she wants something installed, she can ask you.

Way fewer headaches for you, I'm not so sure about her, but given that their would be 0 spyware to nag her, I'd think she'd be happier too.
 
I've thought of simply locking down XP and giving her the most limited access, but there will be still an open hole somewhere. Yet, it still seems easiest (to me) to simply install Linux and then most (all ?) headaches will be gone. Thanks for your replys, all.
 
RandysWay said:
I've thought of simply locking down XP and giving her the most limited access, but there will be still an open hole somewhere. Yet, it still seems easiest (to me) to simply install Linux and then most (all ?) headaches will be gone. Thanks for your replys, all.
Click to expand...
You live in Temecula? I live in Menifee! Haha, you live very close to the mall? Never seen anyone on the intarweb that lived so near. :p
 
theres 95% chanve if your computer dumb to get spyware and crap on windows and about 5-10 if your on linux which i havent yet.
 
AMDXPCottonFire22 said:
theres 95% chanve if your computer dumb to get spyware and crap on windows and about 5-10 if your on linux which i havent yet.
Click to expand...

Holy Drunken Grammar, Batman! :D
 
RandysWay said:
it still seems easiest (to me) to simply install Linux and then most (all ?) headaches will be gone.
Click to expand...

You may have major headaches installing Linux on a laptop because of all the proprietary chips inside. Linux may not have all the drivers.

You're also likely to have dual boot problems down the road.

Now, since she has an old PC, Linux should be perfect for it because it'll make it seem as if it is twice as fast. If you have enough memory it shouldn't ever even go to the swap space of the disk drive. I just hope that you do not have a Wintel modem, a wireless mouse, or a newer ATI card. If she has an nVidia card you are golden. You should have no problems with sound if you have a Creative Live card (audigy2 need not apply).

You can download and burn a SUSE Live CD .iso and that should allow you to see if you can get onto the internet without ever installing anything on the old drive.

For just surfing, Linux is the way to go. If you like Outlook (not OE) you will probably like Ximian's Evolution email client. Personally I prefer Red Hat' Fedora Core 2, but they have dropped legacy NIC support and you will have to google for a fix. FC2 has GNOME instead of KDE. Most people prefer KDE as it looks marvelous. I prefer GNOME for the admin tools, the Ximian desktop and GRUB (boot loader). (GRUB is less likely to have problems with WXP).

You can also boot off the SUSE live CD on your laptop and see if you can connect to the internet and see if the mouse works and if the sound works and if the USB works...

Once you get deep into Linux you might want to try IPCop, Immunix, BitDefender and LEAF distros.
 
Josh_B said:
Gnome, Linux, AMD64, Fedora, and Lilo forever! ;)
Click to expand...
KDE, BSD, P4-Xeon, FreeBSD and the noname BSD bootloader forever :p
We've got material for at least three flamewars right there. :D

(It's the variation that makes this scene so interesting.)
 
HHunt said:
KDE, BSD, P4-Xeon, FreeBSD and the noname BSD bootloader forever :p
We've got material for at least three flamewars right there. :D

(It's the variation that makes this scene so interesting.)
Click to expand...

I actually own a "BSD OR DEATH" t-shirt. (I can't really wear
it anymore though, since my main machines are Solaris & Irix.)
 
shieldforyoureyes said:
I actually own a "BSD OR DEATH" t-shirt. (I can't really wear
it anymore though, since my main machines are Solaris & Irix.)
Click to expand...

Solaris was BSDish once, wasn't it?
(Until they picked up a lot of SysV-isms somewhere around the SunOS->Solaris shift, or am I rambling?)

You need "UNIX or Death" :D
("You shall have no X but me"?)
 
HHunt said:
Solaris was BSDish once, wasn't it?
(Until they picked up a lot of SysV-isms somewhere around the SunOS->Solaris shift, or am I rambling?)

You need "UNIX or Death" :D
("You shall have no X but me"?)
Click to expand...

Yeah, early SunOS was BSD. They switched to SysV with SunOS 5,
and it was a complete switch, not just added SysVisms. Solaris 1
is SunOS 4 (BSD), all the later versions are SunOS 5 (SysV).
So - "Solaris 8" is technically "SunOS 5.8". The distinction
between SunOS and Solaris is really just bizarre marketing
trickery.
 
shieldforyoureyes said:
Yeah, early SunOS was BSD. They switched to SysV with SunOS 5,
and it was a complete switch, not just added SysVisms. Solaris 1
is SunOS 4 (BSD), all the later versions are SunOS 5 (SysV).
So - "Solaris 8" is technically "SunOS 5.8". The distinction
between SunOS and Solaris is really just bizarre marketing
trickery.
Click to expand...

Right. Changing at Solaris 2 instead of 1 is just evil. :D
 
HHunt said:
KDE, BSD, P4-Xeon, FreeBSD and the noname BSD bootloader forever :p
We've got material for at least three flamewars right there. :D

(It's the variation that makes this scene so interesting.)
Click to expand...

*Gets flame-retardant suit out*

Let the flames begin.

:D
 
Josh_B said:
*Gets flame-retardant suit out*

Let the flames begin.

:D
Click to expand...

I also use AMD CPUs (and an Alpha), gnome 2.6, and I've got grub on this computer.
Linux, however... *ducks*
:D
 
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