Re: Anti-virus

["Robert G. Brown" <bob@xxxxxxx>]

>>>On Feb 25,  6:50pm, Alan DeJong wrote:
>>>I was wondering if there were any anti virus programs for linux?  

Adam Williams wrote:
>... As for a Virus infecting Linux, you are using a real OS now, and you
>can sleep peacefully.

Steve Poling:
>....having user permissions and file access stuff woven into the
>earliiest versions of the software instead of being kludged into it 5 years
>down the road.

I know of no specific anti-virus software for Linux. However, on the whole,
there's something better than anti-virus software at work here.

Others may have implied this notion, but I'd like to state it explicitly:

The BEST anti-virus plan is having a couple of thousand of the worlds best
software specialists, including the originators of the software, examining
code known to have vulnerabilities. Keep these people free of a lot of
bureaucracy, and allow them the freedom to exchange software so that the
best solution emerges and is distributed quickly. Allow the owners of the
systems involved to incorporate these changes into their systems without 
delay. Continually improve and evolve software so it becomes harder to find
and exploit security problems.

Hmmm... The above looks familiar, doesn't it? I'm describing the process that
goes on ALL THE TIME in the Free Software/Open Source software communities.

We don't answer viruses with anti-viruses, we answer viruses with basic im-
provements to software, and with continued vigilence. That is a fundamentally 
superior approach.

Note that this method is REALLY DISCOURAGING to those who would create viruses
and set them loose on the world. This chilling effect results in fewer viruses
to begin with.

A side note: RPMs can be PGP signed and authenticated. If they are respresented
as coming from a trusted source, this can be verified with PGP. I do not know
if RPMs that come from Red Hat ARE actually signed, but the facility is there.

                                                                ---> RGB <---