cork1958
Cork
join:2000-02-26
Fruitport, MI
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Charter Pipeline
| reply to El Quintron
Re: Looking to adopt a new *nix
If you want small, light and has EVERYTHING including flash player, win32 codecs, rar unzipping, etc, all in one, WITHOUT having to search for all that garbage, try Blag, »www.blagblagblag.org/ or Zenwalk, »www.zenwalk.org/.
My 2 favorites.
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The Firefox alternative.
»www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/ |
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Selenia
join:2006-09-22
Pittsfield, MA | reply to nixen
iptables is the best friggin firewall there is-and free. I laugh at that bloatware Windows users install. There are GUIs that can configure it pretty well, but only the command line can tap the full functionality it has. |
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adsldude
always learning
Premium,Ex-Mod 2003-9
join:2000-11-10
Colorado
| said by Selenia  :iptables is the best friggin firewall there is-and free. I laugh at that bloatware Windows users install. There are GUIs that can configure it pretty well, but only the command line can tap the full functionality it has. How about netfilter? Let the stateless and state-full firewall wars begin. So many choices! |
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Bink
join:2006-05-14
Denver, CO | reply to Selenia
iptables? That thing is madness. Get outside your Linux walls and try OpenBSD’s pf (packet filter). |
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nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
·Speakeasy
| said by Bink :iptables? That thing is madness. Get outside your Linux walls and try OpenBSD’s pf (packet filter). Been using ipf for over a decade, now. Feels like it makes more sense.
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The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell |
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Selenia
join:2006-09-22
Pittsfield, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Bink
said by Bink :iptables? That thing is madness. Get outside your Linux walls and try OpenBSD’s pf (packet filter). I like iptables structure that makes almost any forwarding or blocking config possible. Even by headers. As I said, if the config is madness for anybody, they can download a GUI like firestarter. That provides enough functionality for the general masses that need a good firewall. I have used a Windows version of BSD's ipfw and very much liked it too. I can do a bit more with iptables because I've used it for years. But that firewall was the best I've ever used for a Windows box. I actually trusted it to block what it was told to :P(you know how some commercial Windows firewalls are). |
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rexbinary
Mod King
Premium
join:2005-01-26
Plano, TX
 ·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | reply to nixen
said by nixen :RedHat/Fedora/CentOS are all really good if you want to fight with system security. Leave SELinux and/or iptables on, It's LOADS of fun.  I have SELinux enabled on my Fedora 11 desktop and netbook, and on my CentOS server and have no issues with it at all. It's very easy to administer on Fedora 11. If you do run into an odd violation, the troubleshooting tool pops up and gives you the exact command to type to fix it. It will also tell you the pros and cons of the fix security wise.
CentOS's trobleshooting tool is not as modern as Fedora's, but on Fedora or CentOS if you stick with software from the repos it is all labeled correctly anyway. Most .conf files list the SELinux commands that need to be issued for that application to run correctly in the comments.
iptables is very easy to administer if you use system-config-security. I've never attempted to edit it by hand but I have heard it can be challenging.
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Verizon FiOS subscriber since 2005 | Mac owner since 1990 | Fedora user since 2006 | CentOS user since 2007 | "Anyone who is unwilling to learn is entitled to absolutely nothing." - graysonf | EDIT: I seldom post without an edit. |
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Selenia
join:2006-09-22
Pittsfield, MA
1 edit | You used to have to edit it by hand. It was one of the more challenging things I had to learn early on. In the end, it was rewarding. Firestarter does most of what people need in a very easy GUI. |
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Radioman991
join:2001-09-24
Dayton, OH
| reply to El Quintron
To the OP....
I have been an Ubuntu guy for over 2 years. Running it on my server, and 5 other PCs...EXCEPT, the netbook I am posting with...is using OpenSUSE. Why? I got a little tee'd off at Karmic, because it made my netbook almost unusable, where Jaunty worked OK after tweaks.
Thank GOD I didn't try KK on the wife's Acer Aspire One as well.
I was disappointed in KK, as I has HOPEFUL it would run BETTER on the AAO.
OpenSUSE is working fine. All I need to figure out is getting 1366 x 768 screen resolution, and then I am golden.
YMMV |
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nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
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| reply to rexbinary
Freaking hate the evil combo of SELinux and iptables when trying to get test servers to work together on new client/server or other host-to-host software. It's one thing once you've sorted out all the ports and SELinux exceptions you need. But the first time you're building with new/unfamiliar software... Ugly. And have yet to see a vendor include the necessary iptables and/or SELinux voodoo necessary to get their shit to work. :P
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The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell |
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benyto
Premium
join:2000-07-09
Chico, CA | reply to El Quintron
My vote would be for Slackware. The lack of hand holding done by the distribution is a positive in my opinion. Of course I'm biased; I've been using Slackware for 15 years or so. |
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El Quintron
Could you spare a consulting gig?
join:2008-04-28
Etobicoke, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Acanac
| reply to Radioman991
Hmm Karmic has been fairly positive on my first gen AA1, I remember having a few heating issues with 8.04 but that was the only real one.
The netbook is probably the one that's gonna be the first hit when I start experimenting for two reasons,
1) doesn't manage the music collection so the audio is secondary.
2) Wifi always seems to be an issue so I can get nail that one right out of the box.
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They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. |
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rawwhide
Zer0
Premium
join:2000-09-03
Zero
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·AT&T DSL Service
| reply to El Quintron
My vote is Slackware. If you want to really learn then Slackware is by far the best. Like someone else quoted...
said by disturbed1 :There's an old saying - If you learn Red Hat, you learn Red Hat. If you learn SuSE, you learn SuSE. But if you learn Slackware, you learn Linux
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To talk much and arrive nowhere is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish. |
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El Quintron
Could you spare a consulting gig?
join:2008-04-28
Etobicoke, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Acanac
| Hence my desire to learn a more complex Linux. Seeing as I've decided which machine I'm going to run it on, Slackware becomes a possibility again.
I'll definitely post here once I get the new one on board.
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They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. |
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nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
·Speakeasy
| reply to disturbed1
said by disturbed1 :There's an old saying - If you learn Red Hat, you learn Red Hat. If you learn SuSE, you learn SuSE.
Depending on what your goals are, you'd likely want to amend that, "if you learn RedHat or SuSE, it might get you a job." 
Mostly RedHat in the US and SuSE in Europe.
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The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell |
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rawwhide
Zer0
Premium
join:2000-09-03
Zero
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·AT&T DSL Service
| said by nixen :said by disturbed1 :There's an old saying - If you learn Red Hat, you learn Red Hat. If you learn SuSE, you learn SuSE.
Depending on what your goals are, you'd likely want to amend that, "if you learn RedHat or SuSE, it might get you a job." Mostly RedHat in the US and SuSE in Europe. Once you learn Linux then the actual distribution doesn't matter. All distros are Linux.
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To talk much and arrive nowhere is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish. |
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El Quintron
Could you spare a consulting gig?
join:2008-04-28
Etobicoke, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Acanac
| reply to El Quintron
I do have a soft-spot for Slackware as a friend of mine has been archiving Subgenius recordings on their behalf for years and keeps in touch with Patrick Volkerding.
However he values stability and I value more updates.
So here's my plan, and yous may interject, I'm going to dual boot my netbook with Moblin and Arch, and I'll run most other candidates as virtuals on this machine, as it has the HP to deal with Virtualization. You thoughts?
--
They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. |
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No_Strings
Premium,Mod
join:2001-11-22
The OC
Host:
Wireless Networking
All Things Unix
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| That's a fine way to evaluate the options.
I'll agree that Patrick values stability over updates, but as I mentioned earlier, you can tap into the current tree for bleeding edge or compile your own if you need something newer than what's released for your version. I do that all the time for a couple of apps. |
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nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
·Speakeasy
| reply to rawwhide
said by rawwhide :said by nixen :said by disturbed1 :There's an old saying - If you learn Red Hat, you learn Red Hat. If you learn SuSE, you learn SuSE.
Depending on what your goals are, you'd likely want to amend that, "if you learn RedHat or SuSE, it might get you a job." Mostly RedHat in the US and SuSE in Europe. Once you learn Linux then the actual distribution doesn't matter. All distros are Linux. Tell that to the employer that wants an RHCT or RHCE.
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The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell |
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Selenia
join:2006-09-22
Pittsfield, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by nixen :Tell that to the employer that wants an RHCT or RHCE. LOL commercial software has gotta be better than some free software, doesn't it? jk LOL. That just seems the train of thought for most these employers. He might not even be aware that the core of his Red Hat is free software. Maybe zing him with that one. hahaha!
said by rawwhide :My vote is Slackware. If you want to really learn then Slackware is by far the best. Like someone else quoted... said by disturbed1 :There's an old saying - If you learn Red Hat, you learn Red Hat. If you learn SuSE, you learn SuSE. But if you learn Slackware, you learn Linux Disagree. Slackware is a nice purist distro, but I see no evidence that it teaches Linux any better. You can even learn on Ubuntu. Let's see, I learned on a Debian machine I setup myself. Almost all skills for newer Debian are portable to cli in Ubuntu(Debian based). Yet, when I go over the RHL, Gentoo, or Fedora there is no change in how to compile source code or setup a desktop environment you compiled. Different package managers, yes. Maybe a couple renamed local directories. When you compile source code for all your apps, then you're learning Linux.
If you're really looking for a distro to force you to learn, then get Gentoo. It's no different than any other Linux. However, it makes you set it up from scratch and forces you to use cli alot. Yet, its initial packages are thoroughly modern. Just don't make it your main system for awhile(you might find yourself very sorry). |
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