[ubuntu-uk] Another reason to use Linux ?

[Pete Stean]

You already have a firewall (but if you're behind a router with
stealthed ports it's not really necessary to have a software firewall
- not even in windows) installed by default

It's called "iptables" - normally hidden from view but the
"firestarter" application, amongst others, exposes it so that you can
fiddle around - not that I've ever needed to...

Welcome to the more secure world of linux  :)

On 10/08/07, Alan Pope <alan at popey.com> wrote:
> Hi Caroline,
>
> On Fri, 2007-08-10 at 23:34 +0100, London School of Puppetry wrote:
> >
> > Hi there- as a linux user do you mean I don't have to have anti
> > spyware or  firewalls- and if I need then what do I ask for and from
> > whom?  Are they downloadable?
>
> There is almost no viruses or spyware/malware to speak of which would
> affect a Linux desktop. Some would argue there is enough to make it
> worth running an antivirus package on linux, I don't agree with that.
>
> A firewall is always a good idea though. There could be a service
> running on your Linux machine (if you installed some server/service)
> which may be exposed to the internet without some kind of firewall.
> Exposing a service means people can poke and prod it to exploit flaws in
> it to gain access to your computer.
>
> I use a firewall on my LAN, well, actually it's an old (Pentium 400MHz,
> 192MiB RAM) PC running ipcop (a specialised Linux distro). I don't have
> the firewall configured on my local laptop or deskop. Some people would
> though.
>
> Cheers,
> Al.
>