this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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ClamAV works and even has live scan these days, with a performance impact similar to that on Windows and MacOS. It's not as advanced as many Windows antivirus programs, but it does the job.
There are also enterprise antivirus products, but I don't think they'll work well on Linux. I would avoid free, proprietary antivirus products (like Avast) like the plague because all of them have had some kind of data collection/data selling controversy or have one coming up for sure.
I used to consider ESET to be quite good, but they dropped their Linux product it seems.
If you want to scan suspicious files, try virustotal.com. That'll run the file through a wide range of antivirus products, including products you wouldn't normally have access to as a consumer.
ClamAV is really only used to check for cross virus contamination. It's a tool that checks for windows malware inside of Linux.
Linux doesn't need any malware software. The way Linux runs and works is already way more secure in itself, almost everything you'll ever download is pre compiled intro software repositories that are checked constantly.
The only way you'll catch a virus on Linux is being dumb and clicking ads or downloading something from untrusted sources like websites that could be fake but look real.