No longer maintained

[dave-theunsub]

As of today, after 20+ years, I'm considering myself retired.

There are many reasons why:

• It's not that good anyway and has lousy reviews
• I'm not a real programmer and will never be good at it
• It needs to be redone, both in a different language and with a new design
• Getting hit by a drunk driver in 2022 made my ability to focus even worse
• clamtk was supposed to be a lightweight, easy to use program, and it's probably neither
• It crashes upon closing all the time now and I have no idea why
• ClamAV signatures take a long time to load upon startup; don't know how to tell that to the user waiting for the scan to begin. Yes, we can use clamd, I know.

There are more, and I could drone on about it but it doesn't add anything meaningful.

My goals were to give back to Linux, which gave me a lot, and to get better at programming. I probably did not do either. I did get more knowledgeable about how packaging works, but I suppose that's not relevant.

I do recommend these, though:

• Quit calling Linux threats "viruses". Linux (and other OSes) are vulnerable to A LOT of threats, including malware and rootkits. Saying Linux doesn't get viruses is like saying your football team doesn't give up many homeruns. It's stupid. Linux systems need to be protected by defense-in-depth, and that doesn't include saying "it's secure because it's Linux". Malware is the right term, which encompasses many types of threats.
• Someone should make a good malware scanner (GUI) for Linux (and related) systems.

Apologies for adding to the list of dead open source projects.

If I can start doing things again, I will. But probably not.

Thanks to all the wonderful people I've spoken to from all corners of the world, and take care.

[digt100]

I always wanted to learn something about programming to actively contribute to open source projects. Unfortunately I never succeeded. Thanks Dave for your time on this great project. It would be really sad if clamtk was abandoned. I hope you can rethink it...anyway, thank you very much.

[GarryStraitYT]

I've used this on my Raspberry Pi. It's disappointing and yet motivating to see it go. Disappointing in the sense that a great program is dying, motivating in the sense that it makes me want to fork it and make it meet the requirements of the original developer. (New language and all that)

[caralu74]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR JOB TILL TO NOW! I wish you could be happy and with little worries. Enjoy your family, your time. As well, I hope to read about you soon! Thank you again.

[TickDracy]

As someone who transitioned (definitely) from Windows to Linux, I enjoy using GUIs whenever possible. It bothers me when people say: just use the terminal. Yes, I use it sometimes, but we can't rely solely on that. Otherwise, Linux will never get the casual user base it needs.

Well, personal thoughts aside, I want to express my gratitude for all the work you have put on ClamTK. I think you're being a bit harsh on yourself, and be more proud of what you accomplished. ClamTK is not bloated or anything like that. It has its own issues, but it's far from the negative perspective you are projecting.

I hope someone can continue your work (or restart it) because right now, I think there is a void for everyone who wants to use ClamAV without the terminal

Best of luck on your career.

[incrediblyimpressiveusername]

This breaks my heart. Not because ClamTK is no longer maintained, but because Mr. Mauroni looks back so negatively on his 20+ years labor of love.

• It's not that good anyway and has lousy reviews

ClamTK has its flaws certainly, but it is good nonetheless. Who cares about lousy reviews? If those reviewers could do better, they should have forked the project and proven it by doing better and becoming more successful.

• clamtk was supposed to be a lightweight, easy to use program, and it's probably neither

It might not be perfect, but it absolutely is both lightweight and easy to use.

My goals were to give back to Linux, which gave me a lot, and to get better at programming. I probably did not do either. I did get more knowledgeable about how packaging works, but I suppose that's not relevant.

You did give back to Linux. And learning how packaging works is relevant, as well as inherently interesting.

• Someone should make a good malware scanner (GUI) for Linux (and related) systems.

Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Linux is a good GUI malware scanner. Unfortunately, it isn't free as in beer nor as in speech.

Apologies for adding to the list of dead open source projects.

Don't feel bad for having created and maintained ClamTK.

Thanks to all the wonderful people I've spoken to from all corners of the world, and take care.

Thank you for your years of selfless work and dedication!

[ghost]

I just read that clamtk is no longer maintained, so sad. Thank you for this one and only gui for clamAV i am using since starting with linux-desktop, it works without any problems. I hope someone will continue and/or fork it, at least one gui-tool for clamAV is needed when using linux as a mouse-controlled desktop-pc. All the best.

[yuj12]

This breaks my heart. Not because ClamTK is no longer maintained, but because Mr. Mauroni looks back so negatively on his 20+ years labor of love.

• It's not that good anyway and has lousy reviews

agree

[digitalfu]

Hi @dave-theunsub,

Thanks for your contributions all these years. Your decision sounds like its been a hard one to make and I hope you enjoy your retirement (as one should) and wish you good health now and in the future.

Without trying to guilt your sense of responsibility (which is evidently as strong as ever) I would like to quote some reviews I found referenced on the wikipedia page for ClamTk, because I (and others) believe your work has great value.

"If you need a good virus scanner, and you’re not a fan of the command line, ClamTk is the best choice."

"If you like the features of the ClamAV tool, but dislike dealing with the command-line, you’ll get the same useful features in a nice, easy-to-use interface"

"ClamTK takes all of the advanced ClamAV features from the command-line and wraps it up in an incredibly simple user interface that the average Linux user can use."

Let us know if you need anything, I (others?) can try and help if possible.