Linux Mint Security?

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MONKEYMAN

Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
2,937
Location
St. Louis
All these discussions of Linux Mint had me interested in trying it. Installed Mint 16 Mate on a Dell 755 Optiplex. It is fast. Unlike other versions of Linux I tried in the past it is working well. I am used to Windows with antivirus, CCleaner, etc to keep it safe.

What do I need to do with Linux Mint to make it secure?

This computer came with Windows 8.1. I wanted to see what it was like. Now I am trying to forget it.
frown.gif


I also have Emachine that am reistalling Windows 7. It was getting unstable, but has software I need for work. I have been re-installing windows for 4 hours now. Still waiting for all the security updates to install.

Linux is seeming too easy. You install it and use it. Am I missing something?
 
I recently installed it too. As far as I know Linux is almost impossible to infect with a virus, [I'm sure someone is trying though] and it doesn't need CCleaner. I'm new to it but the buddy that turned me onto it told me this, and he is very well versed in Linux as well as Windows. I also read up on it and discovered that's the case.

Now lets say someone emails you an email with an attached Virus, it will do nothing to Linux. But if you forward that email to a friend with Windows the virus can infect that machine. There is software for Linux users to prevent the example I just mentioned.

IMO installing Linux Mint is a great way to squeeze a few extra years out of an old computer. I will be changing over my XP machine shortly. I'm still learning but I am very impressed.
 
Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: MONKEYMAN
Am I missing something?


Nope.


Will Microsoft compensate me for all the time I wasted?
 
I would still recommend something like ClamAV on Linux. As someone else pointed out, even though you are immune to Windows viruses, you can still pass them along unknowingly. There are also browser-based exploits that could hijack Firefox, Chromium, etc.
 
Quote:

Will Microsoft compensate me for all the time I wasted?


Didn't you read the EULA before accepting it? LOL. It details in 42 pages the rights MS has and the ones you don't.

Take a look @ this recent thread

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3262907/1

See what you are leaving behind?

I abandoned windows after installing W98SE for the fifth time on the same PC; went to linux, have used a number of distributions (i even BOUGHT SuSe packaged linux) and have never looked back. Never done a reinstall due to software corruptions, never used AV or anti-spyware.

A lot of commercial firewall products use linux as an OS; exactly none use Windows.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: dparm
I would still recommend something like ClamAV on Linux. As someone else pointed out, even though you are immune to Windows viruses, you can still pass them along unknowingly. There are also browser-based exploits that could hijack Firefox, Chromium, etc.

Nope, I'm not scanning my emails with Clam to protect Windows users from themselves - their problem, not mine. Some ISPs do it (those running Linux mail servers often use Clam, as you indicate). But, I'm neither an ISP nor a Windows user babysitter.

I've never had an issue with any hijack attacks to Firefox, either. Not running as a root user is the first line of defence in that regard, too.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
dont run as an admin.


I am pretty sure that the entire *buntu OS's disable logging in as root graphically. During install you do not even set a root password: everything administratively is done via sudo.
 
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
Originally Posted By: Rand
dont run as an admin.


I am pretty sure that the entire *buntu OS's disable logging in as root graphically. During install you do not even set a root password: everything administratively is done via sudo.


That is correct; utilities that require escalated privileges escalate only for that particular process, not for the user's entire login session. Root actually has no password IIRC, you cannot even log in as root over tty.

Out of the box, the security model makes it impossible for the untrained user to use poor judgement WRT administrative actions.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: MONKEYMAN
Linux is seeming too easy. You install it and use it. Am I missing something?


It's generally easy to use and quick to set up. I tried it on a few machines and eventually removed it due to driver issues and apparent hardware incompatibility. I have an eMachines EL1200 that plays video horribly with Mint, but beautifully with even the old XP that's still on it. After help from many fine folks on here and on Mint boards, I figured out that hardware acceleration was not turned on in Mint and there was apparently no way to turn it on...the graphics drivers just didn't seem to work right with it. So I removed Mint and it still runs XP pretty well.

I also have a Compaq Presario laptop with Windows 7 and Mint dual-booting. I still have Mint on it, but I honestly never really use it. Windows runs well there are some things that I can't do on Mint, or that at least require work-arounds. I spent days upon days trying to get the wireless driver to work under Mint. Someone here posted four lines of code to type into the Terminal and it worked.

I'm not a Linux admin, and I found that it was taking me too much time to Google how to do something. I like tinkering with computer stuff (I started college as a CS major), but I didn't want to devote that much time to learning a different OS.

On your particular hardware, you may not be missing something. But it's somewhat of a hit-and-miss deal, and it didn't work optimally on mine, and there didn't seem to be a way to fix it. A Linux admin might could get it working.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
A Linux admin might could get it working.


A determined and capable Linux admin could probably get it running on a toaster; but that does not help casual users.

Hardware compatibility and the availability of some popular software titles are absolutely real, practical, everyday problems for someone thinking about making the switch. In my entirely irrelevant opinion, that simply illustrates very clearly how proprietary, closed-source software inhibits freedom and choice.
 
The incompatibility issue is waning all the time. My first Linux setups were a bit of a challenge. Now, it's to the point that some hardware sets up easier in Linux than in Windows. My last computer's NIC was plug and play in Linux. Not so in XP. My HP printer works out of the box in Linux. The one at the office on the Windows machine needed to install software.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I recently installed it too. As far as I know Linux is almost impossible to infect with a virus, [I'm sure someone is trying though]


Remember, the term 'rootkit' comes from the Unix world.

While Linux infection rates are far far far lower than Windows, always be vigilant no matter what OS you use.

How do you know you don't have any rootkits on your system if you never used a reputable tool to hunt for them? That question is the same for any platform.

All that on the table, Mint 16 clears up the goofy post-installation wireless issue I ran into recently. Good news indeed.


http://www.zdnet.com/low-level-exploit-sends-ubuntu-opensuse-kernel-bug-hunting-7000025872/
 
Ever notice how all these Linux stories are about potential attacks? Yet, every day, some dodo on a Windows box needs a Best Buy halfwit to fix his system for him after a bona fide, in the wild issue.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
Ever notice how all these Linux stories are about potential attacks?


We call it FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) and it is both the lifeblood of those who oppose free software and the bane of the existence of it's supporters. There is big, big money behind Linux FUD.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
No sound from my Linux Mint install, output is set to dummy speakers
2 3
Replies
52
Views
1K
berniedd
demarpaint
Having problems with Thunderbird in Win 11 and Linux Mint
Replies
16
Views
876
uc50ic4more
OVERKILL
FreeBSD 13.1 - HP ProBook 450
Replies
4
Views
444
OVERKILL
B
Linux Mint 19.2 error: environment block too small
Replies
15
Views
985
Jimmy9190
F
W10 still activates just fine on dell oem. But why?
Replies
13
Views
923
camrydriver111
Back
Top