On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:32:40 -0500,
Madhusudan Singh <spammers-go-here@spam.invalid> wrote:
> Jay wrote:
>
> > Madhusudan Singh wrote:
> >
> >> Jay wrote:
> >>
> >>> New B in trouble
> >>> When I am trying to install or uninstall f-prot and clamav
> >>> I am getting "*/debconf/config.dat is locked by another
> >>> process". How do I find which process is locking it and
> >>> how do I unlock it? Thank you for any help.
> >>
> >> Why do you need to install these ?
> > Thanks for responding Madhusudan, I'm using F-Prot instead
> > of ClamAV which I couldn't get it to work. My computer is
> > dual booted Xp and Debian Sarge. Any help in finding out what
> > is locking my config.dat? J
>
> You are welcome.
>
> But why do you need to install any anti-virus programs for
> Linux even if you have a dual boot computer ?
>
> Yes, theoretically, viruses can exist for Linux, but I am yet
> to hear of a case where a system was wrecked by virii. Copying
> this message to c.o.l.m where you can get more detailed
> responses about the necessity of having an anti-virus program
> for Linux.
>
> You would be better off installing a good firewall (for both
> Linux and XP).

A common reason to install a virus scanner in Linux is because
the Linux box is used as an email server to MS boxes. I guess
you could set up a scanner on a proxy server as well.

While I agree that a good firewall to eliminate unwanted port
traffic to exploited ports is a good idea, turning off services,
and knowing what we are downloading, and so on can reduce the
odds of a virus to virtually nil, some of us run a network that
less knowledgeable users access, and the users have no interest
in becoming more knowledgeable. An administrator should take
reasonable precautions, and depending upon your users a virus
scanner may be perfectly reasonable.

A firewall does nothing to inhibit malware, it may mitigate the
damage, but a virus scanner reduces the odds of getting a virus,
trojan, etc. With a good scanner you just hope you aren't
infected before the scanner is updated for new virus, someone
has to be first.

Michael C.
--
mcsuper5@usol.com http://mcsuper5.freeshell.org/

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap,
why didn't he just buy dinner?