Kurt, I also agree with your statements, which is also the reason I purchased the Linksys. I have already setup Apache, BIND, Qmail, and some firewalls before so so I knew how to do it, but since this is only a Home network and I want to use my current linux firewall (pent 200/ 64 megs RAM) as a test/dev system for myself. Thanks for explaining everything. John Albee On Mon, 23 Apr 2001 12:20:55 -0700 Kurt Granroth wrote: > Craig White wrote: > > > I disagree. I was using a Linux box with 2 NICs as my router and > > > wasn't very pleased. It was too big, too hot, and too loud to be used > > > in my living room (where my BB cable comes in). I got a Linuxsys > > > router and have been pleased as punch ever since. > > > > > > It took me all of 5 minutes to setup and has been rock-solid ever > > > since. Configuration is next to trivial and the "advanced" features > > > (while not as complete as what ipchains or netfilter can do) did > > > everything that I needed doing! It is also tiny, cool, and silent so I > > > can easily hide it. :-) > > > > > > I did quite some research on 'net routers before buying it and the > > > Linksys was very well recommended. There *were* some complaints about > > > a particular version of the firmware, but mine had the updated one. > > > > > > I would recommend this product to anyone! > > > > I do recommend this product to people for home use but that wasn't the > > point. > > You said that we should be "ashamed" for buying a "marginal quality" > Linksys router and I responded to that. Your point wasn't at all > clear in your original email and (IMO) not very convincing in this > one. > > > This is a linux exchange - what better advocacy can we make than to suggest > > that by setting up your own router > > Going with a Linux solution as a knee-jerk reaction rather then > evaluating individual situation needs isn't exactly the message we > should be sending out... even though this is a Linux exchange. A > firewall is a TOOL and should be implemented in the best possible way > for the situation. > > > You will gain invaluable knowledge about routing and linux by > > rolling your own instead of doing the easy thing...buying a NON-open > > source box. > > Sure, if somebody is trying to learn such topics, then setting up a > Linux (or *BSD) firewall is a great way to do so. But that doesn't > factor in at all in the cases where: > > a) You already know how to do this and have done it many times before > or > b) You don't care to learn this particular aspect > > I fit the first category and could see myself in the second. Back > when I first started with Linux, I made sure that I tinkered with > almost everything on my system. These days, I do default installs of > preconfigured tools and leave them pretty much alone except in cases > where I *need* to touch them. > > > As for your box... > > - noisy? buy better parts. > > Doesn't help if you have super-sensitive (not necessary *good*.. just > sensitive) hearing. I bought an Enermax "whisper" power supply and > CPU fan with the lowest dBA rating I could find. The case was a solid > quality thick one and the entire deal was sequestered away in another > room. The result was a computer MUCH quieter than your normal one.. > but still too loud. > > Keep in mind that I often have to unplug TVs when I'm in working in > the same room as one since even though they are off, the sounds they > make really get on my nerves. > > > - big? I would love to find a cheap small box/motherboard combo with > > 2 integrated NIC's. > > So would I. As far as I can tell, they don't exist without massive > hardware hacking. > > > - slow? > > Never said my box was slow. In fact, if anything it was too FAST > (900Mhz Athlon). That kind of CPU requires a much louder fan than, > say, a plain Pentium or 486 > > > Moreover, you can learn how to configure sendmail, apache and other > > daemons - the experience thing...it's valuable. > > Don't need to have it as a firewall for that. In fact, it's a much > better idea to have all the daemons on a DMZ (or at least a separate > machine), anyway. > > > As for the LinkSys, there have been some rather buggy releases which > > I guess that they have provided firmware updates to fix most of > > these issues but they are apparently still haunted by DHCP bugs. > > Maybe.. I can only say that *I* have had no problems at all. > -- > Kurt Granroth | http://www.granroth.org > KDE Developer/Evangelist | SuSE Labs Open Source Developer > granroth@kde.org | granroth@suse.com > KDE -- Conquer Your Desktop > ________________________________________________ > See http://PLUG.phoenix.az.us/navigator-mail.shtml if your mail doesn't post to the list quickly and you use Netscape to write mail. > > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss