Well, I've finally done it! Guitar Bob is now using a new box with Linux Mint on it. Guess I can't run ClamWin unless/until I learn to use Samda on it.

Not to fear, however, My wife is still running Windows on her computer, so ClamWin will go there. I'll put Clam AV on this one if I think it is needed.

I finally got tired of the constant Windows updates and security problems.

Regards,

Congrats, Bob! I think you'll be very happy. Head over to the Mint Forum for lots of tips and how to's. Bleeping Computer has a very active Linux board, too, and is worth the read. Puppy developer Mike Walsh is a member there and posts frequently.

You should be able to run ClamWin in Wine in Mint. I'm running CW (latest) in Mint 20 Mate (not the latest Mint version, I know). The only issue I've encountered is that CW couldn't find the "img" folder so some GUI graphics weren't displayed. My solution was to put a copy of the "img" folder in each directory up to Wine's C drive. Two anti-rootkit apps worth having are chkrootkit and rkhunter (on demand only). You can find them in the software repository.

Good luck, and have fun!

Lipper

Hello Lipper! It's good to hear from you. Will ClamWin work on Linux under Samda?

Thanks for the tips/support.

Regards,

Hello Bob,

You're welcome. What I know of samba is it enables file/print sharing on multi-platform LANs. It comes pre-installed on Mint, but I've never knowingly used it. When I searched the Mint Forum for samba I got over 16k hits. Did you read something to indicate it was needed to run ClamWin in Mint? Sorry I can't be of more help - all I've known is to run ClamWin in Wine in Linux.

Lipper

P.S. I failed to mention that you will lose the CW tray icon and autostart functions in Linux. Hence, you will have no auto-update or scheduled scanning. I don't use these functions in Windows, either, so it's no big deal for me.

Hello Lipper:
Looks like Samda is for networks. You are right--Wine is what is needed to run ClamWin.

Looks like there may be a firewall for Mint. Know anything about it?

Regards,

Hey Bob, a firewall is pre-installed but not activated by default. There are two ways to do that: Look for GUFW (firewall GUI) or Firewall Configuration in Menu > Preferences. If it's not there open the Software Manager, then search for and install GUFW. Now there should be a link in Menu > Preferences. Or, you can set up the firewall through the Terminal. Use caution in the Terminal. It's comparable to a Dos box in Windows and one typo could be fatal.

Open a Terminal. (copy and paste is OK)
Enter code inside brackets [sudo ufw enable] Press Enter and type your password. Press Enter.
Enter code inside brackets [sudo ufw default deny] Press Enter. Close Terminal. You're done.

I don't make any custom firewall rules since I'm also behind a NAT router which acts as a hardware firewall. If you haven't yet set up TimeShift, do so ASAP. It's similar to Windows Restore (but better) and could save you from re-installing the OS should the worst happen.

As ever,
Lipper

Thanks for the valuable info, Lipper.

Regards,

No problem Bob. Glad to help.

So GuitarBob how is it going with Linux - that distro is not good for my win 98 box

The Linux Mint computer is running fine. I'm glad I got a computer with Mint already installed. That probably kept me from having any real problems. I did not have to install any drivers.. The printer, extra keyboard, speakers USBs and wireless network all worked okay. Firefox and Libre Office were already installed. It came with the Cinnamon GUI (there are a couple of more GUIsyou can use) which makes it a bit like Windows. After a bit of intuitive configuration, I was on the internet in about an hour after opening the box. I have not lost any productive time between the internet and Libre Office. Now it's just a matter of learninng more. Clam AV was already installed, but I didn't like it. You can install ClamWin under the Wine Windows emulator, but I haven't done that yet. For security, I have configured the firewall, installed the Timeshift system backup and installed the Lynis (formerly rkhunter) security auditing/rootkit scanner. I think that might be enough seurity if I do some hardening suggested by Lynis.

Mint is slow on the startup, and Windows is easier to run, but I'm happy with it. The OS is a bit "clunky" compared to Windows because it's based on Unix. Some Linux users say you don't need any security on Linux, but they don't really know anything about security. It is more secure than Windows, but there are a few viruses for it each year (mostly for servers), and you always have phishing/ID theft. There have been frequent updates, but I just see what an update is and then give my okay.

I'd like to get my wife on it, but that's going to take some time!

For Win 98, you might try to use a Linux system on CD and not install it on the computer. You may not be able to use any Linux distros on Win 98, but there are one or two that run a minimal configuration, and you should try Puppy.

Regards,

LOL I am the one who told y ou about my experiences with various older puppy distros.
Glad you are having fin exploring you new box and lol on getting your wife to use it.
Yes it is a lot like windows but I think a little more like a mac behind the scenes - in feel

I had Puppy installed on a CD almost 10 years ago and only used it a couple of times. It was a bit limited then, but I thought it had possibilities. It's now available in so many versions that it turned me off. Otherwise, I may have gotten it if there was only one version.

Regards,

What you intimidated by options--can't be.
I was just reading something and thought this browser may be useful to you on linux and win.
It is BEAKER BROWSER

https://puppylinux.com/

A quote at the Puppy site:
"Puppy Linux is a unique family of Linux distributions meant for the home-user computers. It was originally created by Barry Kauler in 2003."

Beaker Browser appears to be a web development app from within a browser. As such, it is primarily to help companies create their own websites. I don't need to develop a web site. I would prefer it to be a little further along in development if I used it. I try to avoid new software, etc.

Regards,

Ah well just a thought, hope you are having a great holiday season and fun learning on your time off