Episode 88: Linux Firewalls
News:
- A Fresh Opera (blog.linuxmint.com)
- A Mint Font (www.omgubuntu.co.uk)
- Open Source Software continues to make inroads in the Enterprise (itweb.co.za)
- David Gewirtz link-baits for ZDNet with an article titled “Why I’ve finally had it with my Linux server and I’m moving back to Windows“ (zdnet.com)
- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols responds (zdnet.com)
- Bruce Byfield blogs about his growing love for KDE 4 (linux-magazine.com)
- Phoronix is hosting the 2011 Gnome User Survey, and they have some early feedback (phoronix.com) (Participate in the Survey)
- Ubuntu turns 7 (internetnews.com)
- End of the road for Ubuntu (jemmatzan.com)
- Longer term support for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (internetnews.com)
- Another Journalist gives up Windows 7 for two weeks to try out Ubuntu 11.10 (networkworld.com)
Linux Firewalls:
- Firewall Guide (help.ubuntu.com)
- All Things IPTables (linuxhomenetworking.com)
- Shields Up! (grc.com)
- Smoothwall Express (smoothwall.org)
Featured Website:
- Build A Firewall under Mint (Ubuntu) (gufw.tuxfamily.org)
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Hosts: Harrison, James, Rob, Scott
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All the talk of various Windows Managers is interesting, but I have to admit, I use Xfce because it pretty much stays out of my way while providing quick access to the applications I use. But nice to know that we all have choice in the matter with a quick [sudo apt-get].
As to David Gewirtz moving off a Linux server, I’m sure there’s a forum moderator out there somewhere who’s day just got a little brighter… Maybe we should contact Microsoft Legal and let them know he’s coming, just so his tech-support can be routed through the right channels.
Opera is a great browser, I fine it faster then firefox and easer to use then chrome, plus its got the best sync features of any browser. People should really try it out and kick the wheels…
The one thing that *really* keeps me using Firefox/Iceweasel is the add-ons; VideoDownloadHelper, DownloadThemAll, and PDFit.
Speed is all well and good, but it’s also about what you can do with it once you get there. I know that Opera added such functions to their browser last year sometime, but it didn’t seem up to par.
Maybe I should have another look to see if there’s been improvement.
Opera now has extensions. There is a video downloader, adblock, etc.
I have Firefox, chrome and Opera all installed and try out new version as they appear, but Opera is still my daily browser,
I’m looking forward to GNOME 3.2 on Linux Mint. Originally, I didn’t care for either Unity or GNOME 3 because the interface always seemed to be in my way, forcing me to dig for things that were once just a click away, such as window-switching. Then when Google released the Offline Google Mail extension, I thought I’d give cloud computing a try. I replaced Firefox with Chromium, Thunderbird & Lightning with Gmail and Google Calendar, and LibreOffice with Google Docs. I found that to a user who rarely leaves the browser, GNOME 3 and Unity start to make sense. Chromium is becoming my desktop environment and replacing a lot of the graphical elements of a traditional desktop environment as I switch out GNOME applets in favor of Chromium extensions. I need GNOME for less and less, so I’m looking forward to a more stream-lined version in the upcoming release of Mint. If I don’t like it, however, instead of Xfce or LXDE, I’ll probably opt for Openbox.
It feels like it took me forever to hear this ‘Cast, and now that I’ve heard it I wish I had been able to hear it sooner.
I’m sorry to hear Harrison has gotten tired of us. ;p I really miss hearing from him, and now that James is back we need Harrison back as well. Co.me on RL, give the poor man a break! We need him back!
Thanks for the segment about firewalls and security on Linux. I had been noticing that malware writers are starting to look at us and wondered how soon I needed looking at securing my sysem, especially since I now have a laptop running LMDE with KDE. I’ll be adding Firestarter to my system when I get it online tomorrow but can we get clarifications for when standard Mint and LMDE diverge?With so many flavors of Mint going LMDE it would be nice to know when we need to do something differently as y’all look at security issues.
I’ll be sharing this ‘Cast on Facebook soon, and I’ll also post something on my blog about it before the night’s done. It was a fun ride being able to pity the poor Windows users’ need to be so diligent about security but I guress it’s time for us to pay attention as well.
I forgot that I can write blog posts from my phone but I can’t publish them. I just posted it and it can be found at http://nancib.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/running-linux-i-hope-you-have-a-firewall-running/
If you “have” to install Windows XP why not slipstream your SP2 media with SP3 and use WSUS offline? It may speed things up for you.
Personally on the PC I have still got XP on I dual boot, I tried with a VM but hardware detection complained.
Happy Mint user, tried SUSE, Fedora & Ubuntu first.
Gentlemen:
Thanks for the firewall primer! I think a security segment is a most timely addition to the program and look forward to more.
Rob’s discussion in regards to the straight modem vs gateway device went far in explaining the HUGE difference between the two. IMHO I believe ISP’s could do their customers, as well as themselves, great service in explaining this difference when they sell/setup connections. Its’ surprising how many folks have NO IDEA that their “modem only” connection offers no firewall protection. In most cases it doesn’t take too much to have folks see the benefits of purchasing an internet gateway device (whether wired or wireless) and frankly it serves to generate a couple of extra bucks when I offer to do the installation and setup (including a home network) for a minimal fee.
I was happy to hear you guys mention TeamViewer!
Over the past year or so I’ve used it as my remote access program of choice, connecting to my own machines as well as in supporting SEVERAL family and friends machines (Windows/Mac/Linux). It’s really a great remote connection program and I recommend it as well. And it’s FREE !!!
I sincerely wish Harrison all the best as he pursues his other ventures. There is NO DOUBT that he is one VERY SMART and talented young man. Best of luck buddy!
Open Source Rocks,
yellowpike