FireWalls

[nater006]

It *is* a very viable alternative at this point. I recommend Fedora (Redhat) or Mandrake for people just getting into it. Both have easy-to-follow GUI installs, and at least Fedora prompts you to set up at least a minimal firewall during the process and it is pretty secure. Much more secure than a basic unpatched version of Windows at this point.

 

The two major hurdles that prevent people from using Linux at this point are...

1) difficulty in setup, which is not really any more in some distros (Fedora, etc) as they have nice GUI setups

2) difficulty adapting to a different look and feel (e.g., not Explorer). Gnome is close and pretty easy to adapt to.

 

I, too, use Debian, but Sid all the way.. (/me ducks and grabs my RHCE and runs). A few of the Redhat folks like Debian too though..

 

Walter will probably testify to the rather... interesting.. Debian setup routine. hehe.

Edited November 9, 2004 by nater006

[2004LEBanshee]

Ihave cable internet and my ? is. my upstairs computer has a norton fire wall and I use a D-link to get internet in my basement. Are you saying I have good protection on my basement computer because I have a D-Link? If so WHY? I thought it just gave me the internet.

[nater006]

If it is a D-link router, it should be protecting you relatively well. At least most of the Netgear/Linksys ones are pretty good. Overall the majority of them are a firewall also, but there may be exceptions to the rule.

[2004LEBanshee]

its a

802.11g/2.4ghz wireless router. What ever the hell that is. All I know is I click on my home page and I get the HQ. But I am glad to hear that it may have a fire wall. How can I find out for sure.