Anti-virus or not?
EW105
which one?
Also, since os x is unix based, does that mean we can somehow program
it? I'm not into programming but a die hard pc friend of mine who uses
linux asked me that one...
thanks
JML
Stephen C.
(in message <ew105-DEF79C....@nr-tor01.bellnexxia.net>):
AFAIK, at this time there is no Mac OS X based virus or trojan. This does not
mean that there can't be. Only that someone has not yet bothered to write
one. Personally, I do not bother with Mac antivirus, at this time. I rely on
a well configured firewall. If I was to use it, I would probably use MacAffe.
You can program OS X. But then you can program any computer, right?
Stephen C.
Adrian
I'm still waiting for a Mac virus .... mind you I've only been using
them for about 12 years (including 10 years of freely downloading via
the Internet) ... it might happen one day. (actually there were a
handful of viruses for the pre OS X Mac Systems but I never came across
any myself.)
On some Windows PCs I find that the anti virus software really drags
things down ... glad to be without it.
Any OS can be programmed. What your friend means is can you use a
command line interface to give you access to the power and flexibility
of Unix ... and the answer is yes.
--
Adrian
Mitch
<ew...@ncf.ca> wrote:
> New to Macs. Should I bother with an antivirus software, and if so,
> which one?
I wouldn't.
I think the only real danger these days is in using something dangerous
on purpose -- like a script you download or an app that is pretending
to be something useful.
Here's an interesting (flawed!) article:
http://www.macobserver.com/editorial/2003/08/29.1.shtml
> Also, since os x is unix based, does that mean we can somehow program
> it? I'm not into programming but a die hard pc friend of mine who uses
> linux asked me that one...
You have always been able to program your computers -- Mac, DOS,
Windows, Linux, Unix, whatever... the problem isn't access, it's the
tools and parts that are available.
Yes, you can make real changes to the Mac OS in two major ways:
replacement software components made available by programmers,
and
learning the technical options you can enable using Terminal and
scripts.
If you were a serious hobbyist, you would probably be talking about
installing some flavor of Linux on the machine. But I don't know what
your friend might have meant, then, since there are many flavors of
Linux for all kinds of hardware. Which operating system you are
currently using would mean nothing -- only the hardware matters in
choosing those.
mark.g...@yahoo.com
I think you guys should check out http://www.opswat.com/ there are 2 or 3 products that may be a match, I think that OESIS Framework at http://www.opswat.com/products/oesis-framework provide a single interface to many antivirus packages, another option is I think Metascan at http://www.opswat.com/products/metascan which is more for ISV, I also found that many antivirus engines certified by OPSWAT at http://www.opswat.com/certified
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Mark