Archive for the ‘Linux’ tag
Antivirus software for Linux
Many people who are new to Linux often wonder if it is necessary to install antivirus software on their computer. Some people even try to install antivirus software meant for Microsoft Windows on Linux! If you’re new to Linux, you might be wondering if it is actually necessary to install an antivirus software scanner on your Linux machine. The answer is — no!
The reason is: Most viruses are written for Microsoft Windows. There are people who claim that it is difficult to write viruses for Linux. This is because Linux is inherently more secure when compared to Windows. This may or may not be true — there are people on the opposite side who claim that both Windows and Linux are equally insecure. Another reason why there are very few viruses specifically aimed at Linux may be that not many people use Linux as a desktop system. The common computer-user is not very unlikely to use Linux. This is exactly the market segment that virus-writers target.
Irrespective of the reason and the outcome of the debates, we can say for certain that there are very few viruses for Linux. There are certain worms written specifically to attack Linux-based systems, but, these are mainly aimed at Web servers and not desktop computers.
It is safe to conclude that by running Linux, you are much likely not to encounter viruses and other malware. Most of the viruses which spread through e-mails and infected websites cannot cause any harm to the computer. For this reason, it is not necessary to install antivirus software application on your computer if you’re running Linux.
Certain antivirus companies such as AVG have versions for Linux as well. However, as it was mentioned before, these are not meant for desktop systems — these are meant for servers. You can download and install these for added security, but it is not necessary at all. This is one of the major reasons why many people switch to Linux.
Log Files in GNU/Linux
Log Files in GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux is a very flexible operating system. One of its major plus points is that everything that happens when the system is running is logged somewhere. If anything malfunctions, error messages are dumped to log files for use by the system administrator. Log files are very helpful in troubleshooting and fixing errors.
Log files are very advantageous. They contain information about various aspects of the computer. If some of the hardware is functioning properly, log files provide the exact information about where it is failing. Logging daemons also keep track about users accessing the computer. If someone succeeds in intruding a Linux system, the details of the intrusion can be found out by going through the log files.
Usually in Linux, logging is handled by two daemons–syslogd and klogd. Syslogd performs general system logging. Klogd performs kernel level logging.
In Linux, the syslog.conf file which is located in the /etc directory controls the various aspects of logging. Log files are located in /var/log/ directory.
Here are the usual log files:
= boot.log: Contains messages about system/application startup.
= messages: Contains messages relating to the system i.e. OS
= secure: Contains security related messages. For example. details about user logging.
= Free86.0.log, Xorg.0.log: Contain messages related to video configuration and mouse. Depending on the type of X server you have installed on your Linux system, you will find either of the file mentioned here.
Popular distrubutions may come with utilities of viewing log files. For example, Fedora Core Linux comes with System Log Viewer, a utility that allows the user to view logsabout mail, the kernel, security datewise.
