Couple of questions
Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: Couple of questions
started by: vendion
Posted by vendion on Jan. 25 2008,00:58
My biggest reason for having Damn Small Linux is that I get cheated into fixing a lot of computers for friends and family, and one of the common things that I have to do is fight off those nasty Winblows virues. I like the way that Clamav works, and so my first question is Clamav installed by default or is it available through the myDSL browser? If not then I have no problem compiling it from source. My second question is how do you mount the hard drive using Damn Small, I have no experience with this in Damn small, any advice?
Posted by chaostic on Jan. 25 2008,07:24
Mounting of a hd can be done through the mounting icon in the bottom right hand corner (3.4.x)or
in xterm "mount /mnt/hda1" if the hd is the master device on the primary ide channel, with the first partition being the one you need. hdxn, x = device, n = partition.
or
in elffm, go to /mnt/ and right click on hda1 and click mount.
And if you make a clamav from source, package it up for us and the mydsl archive
Posted by vendion on Jan. 25 2008,19:09
LOL So I'm not the only one wanting Clamav I figure?
Posted by lucky13 on Jan. 25 2008,20:18
| Quote |
| one of the common things that I have to do is fight off those nasty Winblows virues. |
I've been using DOS and Windows for over 20 years. One virus (stoned) in all that time. If your friends and family are having such serious issues, I can recommend security software as well as tips to minimize the potential for exposure.
As for Linux, BitDefender has a Linux version (binary, not open source iirc; I think its license is why I avoided making an extension) that untars in /opt which is perfectly suitable for use in DSL. If you want to scan drives from a known "safe" environment, I recommend PortableApps' version of ClamWin.
Posted by vendion on Jan. 25 2008,21:22
I have PortableApps and ClamWin on another USB drive, but I don't carry that only on me all the time because I use that for school and can't afford to lose it. If I lose my USB drive with damn small all I really lose is ~$30 and I give someone else a free Linux distro. I also would prefer to use Clamav over a non open source app
Posted by lucky13 on Jan. 25 2008,22:15
| Quote |
| I also would prefer to use Clamav over a non open source app |
As good as some open source software is, I have a significantly different and higher criterion for things that relate to security: How well does it actually work?
| Quote |
| The average product detected 86.95 percent, the median 90.97 percent.... ClamAV 387,276 63.81% |
< http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2135092,00.asp >
Needless to say, ClamAV isn't my first choice in Windows AV software. But ClamWin is nice and portable. FWIW, closed source BitDefender's detection rate was 95.68%. But like I said, I have different criteria for how I keep Windows computers safe. Maybe that's why I don't have the kind of trouble your friends and family do.
Posted by vendion on Jan. 25 2008,23:49
Well they are more paranoid about it, they get the idea that they have a virus and complain about it until I go out and scan their computer. Clamav is good enough for me to scan their PCs quickly.
Posted by lucky13 on Jan. 26 2008,00:29
Good enough for you or good enough to detect viruses? I just added more about the issue on my blog. Including a site that does weekly tests:| Quote |
| ClamAV in this past week’s test wasn’t the worst by far, but it detected 17% of viruses. Compare that to other AV programs that beat it in the other test I linked. BitDefender detected 51% — triple the rate of ClamAV. |
< http://lucky13linux.wordpress.com/2008....inciple >
Posted by vendion on Jan. 26 2008,15:57
Funny ClamAV scored in the top three in LinuxWorld's "Fight Club"< http://www.darkreading.com/documen....news1_1 >
< http://virus.untangle.com/ >
Posted by lucky13 on Jan. 26 2008,18:39
Funny, that was the one with conflicts of interest: untangle.com peddles clamav. That's why I linked to independent studies. :-)
Posted by vendion on Jan. 28 2008,18:53
The test was done by LinuxWorld, not Untangle so there is no conflict of interest there because LinuxWorld has nothing to do with ClamAV or Untangle. I also find LinuxWorld to be a creditable source and or organization over independent studies done by uncreditable bloggers (no offense).
Posted by lucky13 on Jan. 28 2008,19:27
| Quote |
| The test was done by LinuxWorld, not Untangle |
Bzzzzt, wrong.
"On August 8th at LinuxWorld, network gateway vendor Untangle performed an all-out public test of different anti-virus vendors to see how they really compare."
< http://www.clamav.org/2007....ht-club >
"Untangle will test a variety of open source and proprietary anti-virus solutions in front of a public audience and present the results live.
Historically, testing labs funded by proprietary vendors have been unwilling to publicize the test results of open source projects. However, with its open Anti-Virus Fight Club, Untangle seeks to determine and publicize how open source anti-virus solutions really stack up against proprietary vendors."
< http://www.untangle.com/index.p....mid=538 >
Conveniently, this vendor leaves out that INDEPENDENT testing shows that ClamAV falls very short of what other products can detect.
And:
< http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/osb/?p=201 >
I find you to be discredited, and you now stand corrected by direct quotes from Untangle and ClamAV *themselves*. No offense taken because I pride myself on the veracity of what I post both here and on my blog -- such as knowing who conducts which tests, which you would've known if you'd taken the time to understand where the test was run (at a convention, not by a magazine). Untangle, a vendor selling open source solutions including ClamAV, admitted they conducted the "test." Their test was not independent, it was with a small sample, etc. These are biases independent researchers try to minimize but what those with vested interests often try to maximize -- such as when the meat industry funds studies that (surprise, surprise) find benefits to eating meat or when Pepsi amazingly finds in their taste tests that people prefer it over other colas.
You're welcome for letting me clear this up for you.