Discussion on:

Linux 101: Configuring and managing iptables to improve network security

The downloadable version of this article is available here"
http://techrepublic.com.com/5138-10877-5997053.html

When you installed you last Linux distro, did you re-configure the iptables? Don't you think, after reading this document, that you should do that?

Do I still need to use Iptables, even when the frequency of me dual booting into linux is rare and at most will likely be education related on my part; for example, after reading this article I feel like i need to configure Iptables; however, most of my apps are on Windo[z]e, and the frequency of me leaving my linux partition online all night is very rare if at all- does this still count or is it a matter of how much security one needs when constantly surfing the web with their favorite linux distro?

Security is good. All it takes is bad timing, and someone could hit a vulnerability in your system while it happens to be on.

You should make sure iptables is configured.

I would have like to see this a month ago when I replaced our firewall with a Linux box.

to teach you a lesson, search the archives here for articles that can help with new projects

I wrote this article in 2005.

edit: . . . and with that in mind, I feel much better about not having noticed your comment for a couple months.

I wish I'd read it in 2005.

I consider this my absolute worst article for TechRepublic. The substance of it is good, but the writing is (by my standards, at least) atrocious.

But I suppose that, when you write something, then mature as a writer or find your style, some work may seem horrible in retrospect.

Your 'atrocious' is much better than many writer's 'excellent'.

"Your 'atrocious' is much better than many writer's 'excellent'."

Well . . . I don't dispute the notion that most supposed "writers" are awful.

Try again: "writers'".

...




Well, you are easy to read, you obviously know your subjects, and I like your style.



"Well . . . I don't dispute the notion that most supposed "writers" are awful."



You have already outstripped them in the intelligence department. Actually, I wasn't even considering the more lame to awful segment of writers in that thought.

http://www.trygve.com/turgid_prose.html

http://www.as.miami.edu/phi/misc/badwrite.htm

"Well, you are easy to read, you obviously know your subjects, and I like your style."

Thanks much. I'll endeavor to live up to such expectations (mostly because I'd get annoyed with myself if I didn't).

I'll have to check those links out later. I seem to have come down with Captain Tripps, and reading long blocks of text is a bit difficult for me right now.

Linux 102, two years later....

I would love to see linux102 on this, maybe with dynamic firewalls rules. Its all laid out cleanly, simple to follow, and command line based, so any distro should behave exactly the same. I would have to say, its by far one of (if not the) best guides for learning iptables. There are many with more "readability" and more with more "content" but very few match this guide in terms of content AND content access.

I'll probably provide something similar to this article, but for PF instead of iptables, first.

hello this is fine for me