So.. brand noob here..do I need AV,.VPN..antimalware?

[MatrixOpal]

Yesterday morning windows 10 crashed so without knowing squat about Linux.. I got a mint boot stick and dove in.

Things are mostly going well (couldn't be happier to have ditched windows 10)
I'm an old dos baby so the terminal isn't foreign to me. Learning the vocabulary probably should have happened first but desperate times.. no internet.. so it's learning as I go.

So far, the boot time is over 3 minutes.. kinda frustrating

Normally the first thing I'd do after getting a new OS up and running would be to install an anti-virus... then my VPN and after that the anti malware stuff.

I have done none of that.. I don't think I saw any of that in the software manager.. does Linux not need those things? If we do need them.. what are their names?

I have tried to get expressvpn on the machine.. the last thing that happened in terminal is it asked for my authentication code.. and just hung there.. wouldn't take input, typing or pasting. Weird.

Also.. wine won't even give me the install button on the software manager.. the buffer circle never ends .. I was kinda hoping to have some wine on this machine.. thoughts?

And thank you


obligatory sys info paste:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-72-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 
           wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: HP product: HP Laptop 17-by3xxx v: N/A serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: HP model: 868E v: 65.12 serial: <filter> UEFI: AMI v: F.03 date: 03/20/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 40.4 Wh condition: 40.4/40.4 Wh (100%) volts: 12.7/11.3 
           model: Hewlett-Packard Primary serial: <filter> status: Full 
           Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M510 serial: <filter> 
           charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-1035G1 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ice Lake 
           rev: 5 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 19046 
           Speed: 999 MHz min/max: 400/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1118 2: 1114 3: 1118 4: 1110 
           5: 1074 6: 1110 7: 1088 8: 1103 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           chip ID: 8086:8a56 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1600x900~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (ICL GT1) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Smart Sound Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:34c8 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-72-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
           vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 4000 bus ID: 01:00.0 
           chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter 
           vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: N/A port: 3000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:c821 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 69.32 GiB (7.4%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: MQ04ABF100 size: 931.51 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> 
RAID:      Hardware-1: Intel 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci v: 3.0 
           bus ID: 00:17.0 chip ID: 8086.282a 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 915.40 GiB used: 69.31 GiB (7.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 12 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Device-1: 1-3:2 info: Logitech Unifying Receiver type: Keyboard,Mouse,HID 
           driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 046d:c52b 
           Device-2: 1-6:3 info: Chicony HP Webcam type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 04f2:b62a 
           Device-3: 1-10:4 info: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 1.1 
           chip ID: 0bda:b00a 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 6 rev: 3.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C mobo: 0.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http: //dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com ulyssa main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:      Processes: 235 Uptime: 4h 58m Memory: 7.47 GiB used: 2.52 GiB (33.8%) Init: systemd 
           v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client 
           inxi: 3.0.38 

[RIH]

I think that you might be better creating a couple of threads rather than put all your issues in one basket...

As far as anti-virus stuff is concerned..
Most users would say don't use it. The systems that are available to detect viruses in Linux tend to issue far more erroneous calls than the genuine hits.
If security is a concern, It is fairly easy to install something like Firejail that containerises your system to protect it.
https://firejail.wordpress.com

For slow boot times..

Code: Select all

systemd-analyze

in a terminal will show how long it takes..

Code: Select all

systemd-analyze blame

in a terminal will list the components that are taking time in descending order.

[ThaCrip]

It seems many say you don't need any anti-virus or the like software on Linux, as at least on desktop, Linux is pretty much virus free (or at the least one could say the threat is low enough not to be a real concern. although I would still be cautious on what you install and especially browser extensions etc).

but a 3 minute boot time sounds quite long, especially if your got a SSD which I imagine you do with a newer CPU (10th gen Intel) like that.

I would consider trying the 5.8 kernel instead of the default 5.4. Update Manager > View > Linux Kernels.

p.s. if you don't mind going for another clean install, get the 'edge' ISO as it comes with the 5.8 kernel by default.

EDIT: like mentioned by the previous poster... Firejail is something easy/simple enough to use and further secures your browser. NOTE: I just install it from a .deb file and then manually adjust the desktop shortcut to load Chrome/Firefox in the Firejail sandbox. this way if you want to run the browser normally you just run it from the standard shortcut, and if you want your browser using sandbox then you use your custom shortcut.

[newlyminted7]

Welcome to the forums, Neo, I mean-, MatrixOpal.

In my opinion, the first thing I'd recommend is ditching is your "Windows" way of thinking.

install an anti-virus...

No. I wouldn't bother.

then my VPN...

Depends what you're doing, I suppose. But consider researching what proprietary Javascript is.

...anti malware stuff.

I wouldn't bother with that, either.

If you're looking for more discussion about my responses, check out these threads:
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=347982&p=2007092
viewtopic.php?p=1991532
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=338878
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=338425&p=1945324
And this site (written by one of this forums members, Pjotr, I believe):
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... urity.html
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/

And here's a discussion related to security, just in case:
viewtopic.php?p=1990454

I have tried to get expressvpn on the machine.. the last thing that happened in terminal is it asked for my authentication code.. and just hung there.. wouldn't take input, typing or pasting. Weird.

Dunno.

So far, the boot time is over 3 minutes.. kinda frustrating

I installed "preload", I think it helped my boot time, not sure if it'll help you:
https://www.linux.com/training-tutorial ... eed-linux/
sudo apt-get install preload

Also.. wine won't even give me the install button on the software manager.. the buffer circle never ends .. I was kinda hoping to have some wine on this machine.. thoughts?

I am of the opinion that if you switch to Linux, then you switch to Linux, which means you find Linux applications to replace all your past Windows ones. It can be hard, but is usually possible. I'd highly advise not installing wine at all. If you must play games, however, I'd recommend dual booting Windows and playing them there..

And thank you

You're welcome.

[MatrixOpal]

Welcome to the forums, Neo, I mean-, MatrixOpal.
. Thanks
In my opinion, the first thing I'd recommend is ditching is your "Windows" way of thinking.

..I am trying .. I know I have to change the way I approach things.. just not sure of the new procedures yet or which concepts are windows specific concepts to begin with. Unlike a bunch of noobs.. I'm really happy with the terminal.. except that one hanging for express vpn issue.

install an anti-virus...

No. I wouldn't bother.
YES! ty

then my VPN...

Depends what you're doing, I suppose. But consider researching what proprietary Javascript is.

will do.. it's paid for so I guess it will apply to my old windows 7 system until it runs out.

...anti malware stuff.

I wouldn't bother with that, either.

another thing to not hog the cpu.. excellent news.

If you're looking for more discussion about my responses, check out these threads:
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=347982&p=2007092
viewtopic.php?p=1991532
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=338878
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=338425&p=1945324
And this site (written by one of this forums members, Pjotr, I believe):
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... urity.html
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/

And here's a discussion related to security, just in case:
viewtopic.php?p=1990454

I have tried to get expressvpn on the machine.. the last thing that happened in terminal is it asked for my authentication code.. and just hung there.. wouldn't take input, typing or pasting. Weird.

Dunno.

So far, the boot time is over 3 minutes.. kinda frustrating

I installed "preload", I think it helped my boot time, not sure if it'll help you:
https://www.linux.com/training-tutorial ... eed-linux/
sudo apt-get install preload

~opens link in new tab~

Also.. wine won't even give me the install button on the software manager.. the buffer circle never ends .. I was kinda hoping to have some wine on this machine.. thoughts?

I am of the opinion that if you switch to Linux, then you switch to Linux, which means you find Linux applications to replace all your past Windows ones. It can be hard, but is usually possible. I'd highly advise not installing wine at all. If you must play games, however, I'd recommend dual booting Windows and playing them there..

It isn't for games.. it's for a very old version of sketchup and an ancient version of photoshop.
I'm an old dog .. but I do learn new tricks. It just takes longer now with less memory cells to work with.

And thank you

You're welcome.

[MatrixOpal]

I think that you might be better creating a couple of threads rather than put all your issues in one basket...

As far as anti-virus stuff is concerned..
Most users would say don't use it. The systems that are available to detect viruses in Linux tend to issue far more erroneous calls than the genuine hits.
If security is a concern, It is fairly easy to install something like Firejail that containerises your system to protect it.
https://firejail.wordpress.com

For slow boot times..

Code: Select all

systemd-analyze

in a terminal will show how long it takes..
wow.. did I underestimate... over 7 minutes

Code: Select all

systemd-analyze blame

in a terminal will list the components that are taking time in descending order.

and now I'm off to research processes.. this one in particular
7min 3.827s apt-daily-upgrade.service

[MatrixOpal]

It seems many say you don't need any anti-virus or the like software on Linux, as at least on desktop, Linux is pretty much virus free (or at the least one could say the threat is low enough not to be a real concern. although I would still be cautious on what you install and especially browser extensions etc).

but a 3 minute boot time sounds quite long, especially if your got a SSD which I imagine you do with a newer CPU (10th gen Intel) like that.

I would consider trying the 5.8 kernel instead of the default 5.4. Update Manager > View > Linux Kernels.
done! I'll see how it goes next time I reboot.

p.s. if you don't mind going for another clean install, get the 'edge' ISO as it comes with the 5.8 kernel by default.
I am on my 3rd clean install and things are going mostly well.. I'm making a note of things to have handy in case.

EDIT: like mentioned by the previous poster... Firejail is something easy/simple enough to use and further secures your browser. NOTE: I just install it from a .deb file and then manually adjust the desktop shortcut to load Chrome/Firefox in the Firejail sandbox. this way if you want to run the browser normally you just run it from the standard shortcut, and if you want your browser using sandbox then you use your custom shortcut.

I"m using the palemoon browser.. it's the only one I know of that still has the option of text instead of icons for the tool bars.. it was fun getting it installed.

[RIH]

and now I'm off to research processes.. this one in particular
7min 3.827s apt-daily-upgrade.service

Start a new 'too long boot up time' thread.
Post the output of the two systemd-analyse terminal commands between the code (</> icons) tags - to make easy reading.
Also post the terminal output of

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxxxrz

(that says how Linux sees your system) the same way..

I am sure that someone(s) will come along and provide advise..

[gittiest personITW]

https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... t.html#ID8


The above page is a great start as others have vouched for.
If you look around on the site it will give you enough info to launch you into Mint orbit.