SOCKS5 problems (RANT)

[Vaughn Treude]

Hello everyone:
    I've been complaining about problems with the SOCKS5 package for some time.  I hate to be a broken record, but I did finally shed some light
on them.  I decided to go back to the www.socks.nec.com and look at their postings again.  This time I found an answer to my "incompatible
version number 71 error."  It was in the SOCKS FAQ, which stated ths error happens when, "a client attempted to use SOCKS as an HTTP proxy."
HUH?  Nowhere did I see the disclaimer SOCKS DOES NOT SUPPORT HTTP.  (Or am I misunderstanding this?) And there's no explanation in the FAQ apart
from this single line.  To me that seems like they're saying, "What were you thinking?  You moron, you should have known better!"  (Yet in other
places, they mention RealAudio support, which I've never used apart from the web.  What's up with that?)
    Relevant to Kevin's suggestion, I went and browsed through the chapter on IPCHAINS in my firewall book.  It appears to be a VERY powerful
program, with an options for every specialized need on the planet!   Aren't there any "cookbooks" out there where you can find generic IPCHAINS
setups for something SIMPLE?  And I still  don't know what I'd have to do to make it play with Windows, or if this can even be done.
    In my SOCKS-related searches I came upon a mention of SQUID, and this sounds like it may be closer to what I wanted.  But maybe I don't need
a "caching" server (why would I?), and maybe the old Pentium 120 I'm trying to set up as a firewall isn't adequate to the task.   Any comments?
I don't want to waste my time playing with this if it's actually intended for, say, only supporting left-handed iMacs in China :-)
    Perhaps my problem is that, since I have lots of Unix experience from the olden days of the 1980's and early 1990's, I think I ought to be
able to figure out these "simple" Linux issues by myself.  WRONG.  With my various DSL configuration problems, I haven't just been barking up the
wrong tree.  I've been on the wrong danged continuent.
    Anyway, thanks for bearing with me.  I just felt I had to get that off my chest.

Vaughn Treude
Nakota Software, Inc.