ok, since i'm a newbie and have been asking stupid questions, i might as well get them all out . Are there anyt major virus concerns with linux? does a antivirus need to be installed?

No, and No

Theirs other threads around about this for other view points. search for virus on the board.

But I stand by my first statement

AFAIR, there is one virus in the wild for linux, and it doesn't do much, if any, damage.

There exist antivirus applications for linux, but they're unneccessary.

The antivirus programs are generally put in to protect Windows machines. you have linux as a relay and it scans whatever comes through. The biggest problems with putting a virus in linux is that it doesn't have the access to cause as much harm. most people aren't logged in as root, so os files are harder to get to.

viruses in Linux? LMFAO. Not a chance. Only a money-hungry company like Microsoft would ever release an OS that is so freaking susceptable to viruses.

Security is not an OS, it is a state of mind.

If run properly, Linux is very hard to infect with a virus/worm. See the The ELF Virus Writing HOWTO for many details.

If you are serving anything running a Microsoft OS of any flavor, you definately need to scan e-mails for the Microsoft nasties running loose.

Well, perhaps that was a little bit too extreme of a statement.

There are actually several viruses that you can get on your Linux computer. I know that Klez is one for example. Now, most people reading this know that Klez is a MS windows virus. You're correct.

Windows has always been flawed from conception. The slightest form of security was tacked on as an afterthought leaving gaping holes in the OS that malicious code and or users can exploit. Because of such poor planning and lack of forthought, these bugs are IMPOSSIBLE to fix without breaking just about all prior software, as much of the Windows software relies on the flaws to run.

Now, in order to run many proprietary Windows only applications like games, a compatibility layer like WINE us required. This compatibility layer has to emulate the flaws to get the software, and thus some viruses to run.

Now, with this in mind, the viruses are still mostly crippled and can't do serious damage to a machine unless the user was dumb enough to be running Windows software via wine on a root account.

Anyhow, with that said, the reason Windows machines need VirusScan is that they are flawed from the start. Microsoft cannot/will not fix those bugs in the software (even when they have the ability to without breaking something, they typically leave them open for months or even years until a problem happens). Linux systems rely on fixing the problem and usually proactively before anyone is able to use an exploit (coders spend time just looking through the source code for potential problems, and usually anyone is welcome and encouraged to help find them). Thus, a linux system that is vulnerable to an exploit when released will not be shortly after if the user or administrator is reasonably cautious. Also, any patch (well, technically more of an upgrade on an RPM system) is easily backed out if needed, something impossible for most MS patches.