Used clamav a lot in the past, it prevented a lot of Windows viruses making it past qmail on to exchange. Yes, there have been times when distros have allowed

Used clamav a lot in the past, it prevented a lot of Windows viruses making it past qmail on to exchange. Yes, there have been times when distros have allowed things through, but that happens far less than malware getting through in a self service ecosystem. The only benefit I see is that AV may point out that you have software that needs updating. Is running AV on linux worth the downgrade performance that you'd get from dropping your CPU one or two generations and a couple of hours of battery life?