RE: why isn't there a newer linux fw-howto

["Kevin T. Shivers" <kshivers () tis com>]

At 04:07 PM 9/29/98 -0700, Andy Burns wrote:
> I have a similar setup at home, except i'm using the MS version of "Hack-Me"
> (Proxy 2.0).
> I'd love to learn linux and switch, but it scares me to death...  (the
> unknown).  My unix level skills are greatly lacking.  I can and have install
> a few different Unix based OS's, to include adding users, change rights and
> the like, but that is where my ability stops...

Do it. Grab a copy of Linux, OpenBSD, or FreeBSD and install it on an old
machine or something. Play around with it. That's how you learn. Or, better
yet it's how I learned most of my UNIX knowledge.

> Is this "RedHat" version easy enough for a beginner such as myself to do
> what appears to be an advanced configuration issue? (i.e., firewall/proxy)

RedHat is *very* easy to install on a machine. Some have said its better
than a Windows install, which now that i've said that isn't saying that
much. It's pretty easy. 

Ok, I know I'm about to open up a flame war, but if I were you, I would go
with a free BSD version of UNIX. Red Hat is fine, but well it's Linux, and
well Linux just isn't UNIX. FreeBSD is an excellent choice, since it is
*extremely* easy to install and it is very easy to configure for a
firewall. The ipfw tools in both FreeBSD and OpenBSD are fairly good, and
they are well supported. Check out the FreeBSD handbook (somewhere off of
http://www.freebsd.org/) for more information. OpenBSD is another choice
which is a very secure version of BSD, but it is alot less user friendly
than FreeBSD or Linux. You may also want to check out some stuff like FWTK
and SOCKS. 

> I supposed there must be a Linux for dummies out there.... I did install
> Linux once from the SAM's book, and I still have it, but I hear it's much
> better (and easier) since then (Late 1995).

There are a ton of Linux books, and a few FreeBSD ones too.

Let me know if you want any help with anything.

> Andy.

kts.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kevin T. Shivers                            UNIX & NT Systems Mutilator
TIS Labs at Network Associates, Inc. 
E-mail: kshivers () tis com                          Phone: (301)-854-5303