IPCop vs Smoothwall

[Eric "Shubes"]

This is not a flame, but I'd add my 2¢ worth.

I chose to try IPCop instead of Smoothwall for reasons forgotten, and 
have been very happy and impressed with IPCop. In addition to the normal 
goodies, it also supports PPPoE so you can have your public IP address 
on the WAN (RED) interface with a DSL connection. It can even be used 
with a modem for a dialup connection, although anyone having to do that 
has my sympathy.

George Toft wrote:
> Let me be the lone voice in support of smoothwall...
> 
> I like Smoothwall for the following reasons:
> - Point and click web-based interface

IPCop too.

> - Plug in modules to add additional functionality

IPCop too.

> - It is supported by Fujitsu and USRobotics (well, kinda)

Good community support, active development, and very responsive email list.

> - Squid does transparent proxying so it can't be bypassed

Web proxying is one (I think the only) feature of IPCop I'm not (yet) 
using. I'm not sure if there's really a difference here or not.

> - "It just works"

IPCop too.

> I don't like Smoothwall for the following reasons:
> - The OS is just plain weird.  Yes, it is Linux, but it does not look 
> like Debian, Slack nor any RH/Fedora derivitave.  I may be mistaken, but 
> it is different.

So is IPCop. I haven't had to get into the internals though, so it 
doesn't really matter. Updates are through web browser function. The 
only reason I've had to ssh into the box is to change nic configuration 
or reset admin password.

> - Running SmoothWall takes a beefier box than I expected.  I am having 
> problems making it run reliably on a 486DX2 with 40 MB RAM :)  It runs 
> really well on 1.7GHz/256MB RAM.

I'm running IPCop on an old Emachine, 333MH cyrix, 160MB ram (swap 
unused), and 3G drive. Not a big load on it, but it hums right along.

> Regards,
> 
> George Toft, CISSP, MSIS
> My IT Department
> www.myITaz.com
> 480-544-1067
> 
> In business, there are always problems.  It's how they are handled
> that makes a difference.  Are you happy with your IT Manager?
> 
> 
> Jim wrote:
>> I am going to set up a P5-233 with 64M as a firewall between my DSL
>> modem and internal network.  I would liked opinions, pro and con, about
>> using IPCop and Smoothwall as the OS.
>>
>> Thanks for your help and suggestions in advance.
>>
>> Jim
>>


-- 
-Eric 'shubes'
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