hello*
i have a pritty simple set up -

DSL terminal adapter --- firewall (ipcop) --- (eth1)my computer (linux) (eth0) --- my laptop (macOS)

until recientally i havent needed access to the internet... however.. now i do.
i dont have a clue what im supposed to type into route or iptables* to 'tunnel' the connection so my laptop can get an external connection


*ive serched the net/manpages/linux knolegeable friends, for two days for a simple explination of the syntax of route and iptables, and everything i find seems to be written for streight A networking gienouses who fart subnets, even the basic howtoos confuse me

i'd really suggest not doing it the way you want to... why not just get a really really cheap hub or switch to share the connection directly from the ipcop machine? or even put the spare NIC i assume is in your workstation and put it into ipcop and use the "blue" interface for the laptop. the green and blue interfaces would need to be on different subnets, but it's pretty simple.

hummm - okay ill take your advice...
but for future knolege - is there any reason why this routing task is so difficult?

well it all depends how it's done. each section there would need to be a different subnet. e.g 192.168.1.0/24 on your workstation to ipcop, and 192.168.2.0/24 between laptop and workstation. once that logic is laid down, any basic firewalling app, like firestarter should be able to get the laptop routing through the workstation.