Do I need any anti virus software on an ubuntu install?

[madokie]

I've read both that I do and that I don't and I've been using ubuntu quite a bit lately without and have had no problems. I do some googling, for instance, how does an airlift pump work or what is the gasifier theory and on and on and with windows I do pick up nasties from time to time even though I'm never undressed but with the Linux's I've played with I've never had a hint of any cooties even though my ass is running bared. I don't mind reinstalling my operating system when I do get something and have over the years found that, in my case, it's the easiest and most fool proof thing for me to do. Whats the scoop on anti virus's for Linux?

Anyways just a Sunday morning wondering. :-)

In all the anti virus's I've tried and I've tried pretty much all the freebies they all use up resources, slowing things down. I'm using panda's cloud now on this xp and it seems to be pretty much invisible and seems to be working good. I had to reformat and reload xp yesterday because of my playing a dvd that my friend at first said he made but turns out it was one that he had made a copy of from one that someone else had made of an old engine meet up in kansas recently.

[Dead_Parrot]

1. Yes and no...

From the basic "will you get a virus" viewpoint, probably not: It's damn near impossible to get any sort of escalation out of a patched kernel, and most of the software is pre-screened by the repository system, but it could happen in theory. No one's succeeded in producing a widespread Linux virus yet, though.

Having said that, if you're swapping files in and out of the system with Windows boxes, an extra pair of eyes is a good idea. Most if not all Linux AVs will scan for Windows malware, and they don't grind as badly as some Windows packages: You should find ClamAV buried in the repositories somewhere.