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But...I am wondering about security. Do I still need a firewall ( am running behind a router), anti-virus, the other basic defenses that most of us have for Windows?
I have the ClamAV and Firestarter(firewall) running just for some extra security. Neither is totally necessary. I have ClamAV installed just so I don't pass on windows viruses to my Windows running friends via email. If you want to install either or both of these look for them in your Synaptic package manager. (System>administration>Synaptic package manager) Enter your root password and use the search function to find them. Then mark them(one at a time)for installation. They will run silently in the background, you won't even know they're there. :) If they aren't present in your package manager you'll need to add the universal repository.