Does Linux NEED an anti-virus?
Yes and no. It probably doesn't because Linux viruses are so rare. However, you
can still propagate Windows viruses and pass them on to unsuspecting friends
using a less secure environment. It is just good etiquette to take into account
the needs of others.
However, using an anti-virus program under Linux is different. For the most part
it does not scan files automatically. To do this you need to use dazuko which is
hard to configure for most newbies and it can be finicky to my way of thinking.
Most people need to scan things manually and many do not bother due to the
hassle.
Will it burn music CD's?
You bet. There are many great programs in Linux to do this. In fact DRM and many
things that get in your way in other OSes are not issues in Linux.
Mostly we surf the internet, write list e-mails (such as this) and
burn music CD's.
Surfing. No problem. There are more good browsers for Linux than any OS. I have:
Opera, Konqueror, Galeon, Ephiphany, Firefox, Kazehakase, Midbrowser, Iceape,
Iceweasel, Swiftfox, Safari (in Wine), and Internet Explorer 6 (in Wine) all
running on my computer.
In addition I can run a full version of Windows XP in Virtual Box with a Gnome
menu bar at the top and an XP menu bar at the bottom. In can run just about
anything this way.
For email you have a choice of Evolution which is a suite, like Outlook,
Thunderbird, and a host of ones that support IMAPI and pop3 that are very fast
and light weight.
Does burning CDs suggest that you download? If so there are many p2p programs.
You can also access Songbird and iTunes. The best programs are either Rythmbox
(good) or Amarok (better) for listening to all kinds of music and managing
collections and syncing with devices. There are many podcast programs as well.
I goof around at YouTube some.
Caution. I use a 64-bit version. Setting up multimedia is possible but not
straightforward if you are using a 64-bit version of your favorite Linux distro
(I use Ubuntu 7.10 64-bit). Stick with the 32 bit version if you don't want
hassles. There is no 64 bit version of flash, Real Audio or Quicktime. You can
make them work, but it takes some tweaking.
If you go with the regular version of Ubuntu you can get all to work with no
problem. You need to do some post-installation to get them to work with Ubuntu
because it does not include restricted drivers by default.
You need Flash or Gnash (open source) and w32codecs and vlc which will do just
about anything from play DVDs to music.
That's about it.
I just NEED a really SECURE computer, as we've wasted about $4,000.00
on 6 PC's that are now trash from being hacked.
Do you know of THIS company, are they reliable?
Canonical is reliable. They are now selling servers with Ubuntu
pre-installed to Fortune 500 companies. Sun Microsystems is backing
Ubuntu by installing it on servers they are selling.
I cannot vouch for your ability to set up a secure system though. You can
install Truecrypt which will encrypt everything and you can install firewalls
and hardening software galore. You can control the flow on information in and
out depending on your capacity and willingness to be able to do it. You can even
set up things to run from a VM so that if it gets corrupted then the integrity
of the host computers are untouched. It is just a question of the degree to
which one is willing to go.
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