AVG Free for Linux

Although the popular assumption is that Linux is immune to viruses, the fact is that you're still at risk - especially if you regularly share files with Windows users.

AVG Free for Linux is available to download for home and non commercial users. Individual installation files are available specifically for Mandrake 10 and higher (now renamed Mandriva), Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and higher, all versions of the Fedora Core and Suse Linux 9.1 and higher distributions.

This is not to say they won't work on other distributions, but it's a matter of trial and error.

Installation on a PC running Mandriva 2005 Limited Edition was simple. The manual is excellent and far better than the help normally provided with Linux applications.

AVG Free for Linux can be run entirely from the command prompt but there is a graphical front end as well. Using command line offers some extras such as creating a report file, while updates are easy to apply and can be scheduled.

Real-time protection is available, but as it involves recompiling the kernel it is best left to the more experienced Linux user.

Scanning was commendably quick; a home folder of around 430MB was scanned in 1 minute 30 seconds.

Another Linux anti-virus utility, ClamAV, which is command line based and harder to use, scanned the same folder in four minutes, 15 seconds and reported to have scanned nearly a thousand files more than AVG.

However, unlike AVG, ClamAV also scans emails. A fix can be found here, but this is a workaround.

It's true that the threat of viruses to Linux is fairly low at the moment, but it won't stay this way forever and it's well worth getting into good habits now.

AVG Free for Linux is easy to use, won't cost you a penny and therefore well worth trying out.

System requirements:
Mandrake 10 and higher (now renamed Mandriva)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and higher
All versions of the Fedora Core and Suse Linux 9.1