How can ubuntu-mate allow to install WP icons on a laptop upon WP instal on a hosting server?

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1

My settings: Release 22.04.3 LTS, Kernel Linux 6.2.0-37-generic x86_64, MATE 1.26.0

I use wi-fi (with Windows network) at work on Ubuntu-Mate laptop, and after buying hosting and registration of my account at hostinger, as well as automatic (hosting provider mediated) Wordpress installation with hosting provider offered plugins and themes, I noticed an icon in the bottom left of the my Mate desktop, near the Reycle bin icon.
It has the same graphics as "Windows network" icon, present under "Browse Network" subsection in "My computer" section. Upon clicking it opens a "https://wp-themes.com/wp-content/themes/....jpg" url of an image from the assets of my selected WP theme.

chkrootkit found the folllowing suspiscous files:

/usr/lib/libreoffice/share/.registry
/usr/lib/ruby/gems/3.0.0/gems/minitest-5.14.2/.autotest
/usr/lib/ruby/gems/3.0.0/gems/rbs-1.0.4/.rubocop.yml
/usr/lib/ruby/gems/3.0.0/gems/power_assert-1.2.0/.travis.yml
/usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/rubygems/optparse/.document
/usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/rubygems/tsort/.document
/usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/rubygems/ssl_certs/.document
/usr/lib/debug/.build-id
/usr/lib/modules/6.2.0-36-generic/vdso/.build-id
/usr/lib/modules/6.2.0-37-generic/vdso/.build-id

Other chkrootkit items were either 'not found', 'not infected', 'nothing found' or 'no suspect files'.
So apart from false positive libreoffice and apparent kernel builds, there seems to have been ruby installed on my laptop? How can this be possible if I was installing Wordpress (though with 'automatic' hosting provider mediation) in my hostinger account on some provider provided virtual machine?
Is Ubuntu-Mate really secure enough to allow such bs to happen?

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Hi Smith75

Thanks for mentioning this.
I immediately checked all my computers but only my desktop computer has those files.

I had to think about it and I remember vaguely that I once installed ruby several years and several versions ago . My system had neatly, silently and obedienly been upgrading it again and again since then, version upgrade after version upgrade.
I remember installing it out of curiosity and to do some experiments with it but I forgot about it afterwards.

In your case it might be that ruby was installed as a dependency of something else that you installed either recently or long ago. Ofcourse I really can't tell what that could be though.

These files are all legit (=false positives). All these are installed as a dependency of ruby.
You can remove them safely with the command:

sudo apt purge ruby*

The command wil show you what it will remove so check this (just to be safe) before confirming. It may even show something that you recognize as having installed in the past.

Nothing on the mate-desktop is dependent on ruby so for normal functioning of your computer ruby is not needed and you can safely remove those packages without borking your install.

EDIT:
You can generate a list of apps that depend on ruby by issuing:

apt-cache rdepends --no-suggests ruby | grep -v ruby

you might see something in that list that you know you have or had installed. Those dependencies are either hard dependencies, "recommends" (default on) or merely "suggests" (default off).

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