Subj : IP Chains
To   : Angus Mcleod
From : Willowolf
Date : Mon Oct 25 2004 06:59 pm

  Re: IP Chains
  By: Angus Mcleod to Willowolf on Fri Jul 30 2004 11:14 pm

 >  >      Wow, now I have no idea which to choose... ;)
 > 
 > What exactly do you want to do, and what is your skill level?  I like
 > Slackware, but you might be more comfortable with something else, depending 
 > past experience and future needs.

     I have been using Debian Linux v3.1 (Sarge) as the OS for my firewall box
for a while now mainly because I like the way it handles package management
with apt-get and dpkg.

     The first Linux distro I installed was Slackware 3. and that was a couple
years back.  I didn't do much with it being that I didn't know much about it at
the time.  

     Even though I was able to install and configure Debian with IPTables and
set up a decient firewall there is still very much about Linux that I need to
learn.  Sometimes I think I should have chosen a distro that isn't so easy to
install packages with.  The apt-get feature really makes it easy, a little too
easy for someone who wants to learn the OS, not just have it work.  Downloading
software for Debian is real simple as long as there is a deb package for it.  I
need to learn how to download source and compile it with Linux.  I've done it
once or twice, but I followed the installation instructions that came with the
source.  Learning vi or emacs would be nice.  I've been using pico because it's
the easiest for me to use and navigate around in a text file with while I'm
making changes to configuration files.

     As someone who has been using Linux for quite some time, what would you
recommend to someone with my skill level (pc technician for 12 years, network
admin for 4 years on Windows) that would really like to learn Linux?

     I can see the benifits of the Linux OS and the amount of control and power
the OS has.  Running servers off of it is a lot cheaper than purchasing a
license from M$ to run one.

Thanks,
\\/

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