OSS in IT
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 Networking Tool

  • Linux is a networking secret weapon!
    • Router
    • Firewall
    • Proxy-server / IP Masq. (AKA Network Address Translation)
    • Security watchdog

  • Old 486 machines become useful again.
    • A 486sx at 33MHz with 8MB of RAM is enough to be a useful router for a network.

  • Wide deployment
    • With more and more people enjoying 24/7 connections, Linux firewalls are becoming common to help protect against "script kiddies" or real hackers using exploits.
    • Simple to do: configure a full distribution or use a single-floppy "kit".

  • Security
    • Security issues, when discovered, usually take less than 24 hours for fixes to be issued.
    • Closed-source response time to issues has been between two and three weeks.

Copyright 1999 Chris Halsall and the Victoria Linux Users Group. Reuse permitted for OSS promotion.