Newbie Question - about newbie user support

[Passive PROFITS]

Hi there Marian!

First off, I must point out that it's incredibly nice
to have met my first female (I assume correctly!?) on
a computer related list.  Long rumoured about ...
Finally!  Unlike the Yeti:  actually spotted! LMAO

More below! :)

--- Marian Hettwer <mh at kernel32.de> wrote:

> Hi there,
> 
> On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:19:55 -0700 (PDT), Passive
> PROFITS
> <passiveprofits at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > 
> > FWIW, I am only experienced with putting together
> > firewalls in Ubuntu using a GUI (Firestarter).  I
> do
> > not seem to have come across problems using that
> combo
> > (IPtables? + Firestarter GUI).
> >
> I'm actually not aware wether there is a gui to plug
> together a firewall
> ruleset based on pf(4).
> That said, I suggest to use pf as the packet filter
> of choice. It's a great
> one.
> Get a first impression about pf(4) by reading the
> handbook
>
(http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/firewalls-pf.html)
> or by reading man pfctl.
> As a newbie, you should start with the handbook :)

OK, OK - I'm not averse to a handbook or two ;)  And I
am not trying to short-circuit that route.  I am on
handbook overload though, what with trying to get my
head around Linux, and now FreeBSD, too!  I need to
slow down a little.  I've wanted a Linux install for
like years, before Ubuntu came along, and now I've got
all those years lost, to catch up on ... Not all
tonight, I realise! ;)  <g>

> Obviously you should have an idea what a packet
> filter (buzzword is
> firewall) does. A good understanding on how tcp and
> networking works is
> preferred for a good configuration.

I've got some very basic understanding (no technical
understanding) of your basic POST & GET, from doing a
very little webmastering some years ago.  I also 'get'
the idea that different protocols have different
default ports through which they usually operate. 
Past that though, I'm basically in need of going right
to the start, and not skipping anything!!  I'm in this
long-term though, so won't be complaining.

> Another way of just having a FreeBSD + pf based
> firewall would be using
> pfsense (http://www.pfsense.org/) which is in my
> understanding a FreeBSD
> live CD with a nice webfrontend to configure your
> router/firewall.

Thanks for that, and the other recommendation from
another.  I may find that I get one of these firewalls
'out of the box' working, then install a 'proper'
install on another machine to play with/learn on, etc.
 At the moment, I've only just burned the disks, and
found that there is indeedy (sic) a huge and detailed
manual that should help me get up to speed with just
about everything, judging by how comprehensive it
seems!

> It really depends on what you want to do... wanna
> learn how to setup a
> packet filter in a unix environment? Go with
> FreeBSD. Wanna have a nearly
> out of the box firewall, go with pfsense.
> 
> I'd prefer the FreeBSD way, because it's always good
> to understand what the
> heck is going on under the hood :)

I agree, though as stated, I'm like on 'new info
overload, like, every day!'.  I can take in a lot,
quickly, but I must admit even I choked a little when
I decided to try get some understanding of FreeBSD at
the same time as Linux Ubuntu ...  I'm sort of hoping
that learning one will speed the learning of the
other, not confuse me too much!  That's the hope,
anyway! <g>

> Anyway, welcome on board and happy experimenting.

And let me say a big thanks for the warm welcome.  I
must admit I wasn't too sure if I was only going to
elicit a few flames from my original post.  Happy,
like, now I am.  Realising there is some support, even
if only moral (though it seems far from that!! ;)).

Best,

PP

> regards,
> Marian
> 
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