For a while now my primary computer has been a dual-boot Win98/Linux Mandrake 8.2. At the time, I installed Linux mostly out of curiosity. Recently I aquired a second machine on which I have installed Redhat 9. I would like this machine to be an internet gateway for my Win98 box, as well as being a web server/mail server/firewall. I also intend on using this machine to experiment with WINE and other apps. I am not too concerned with performance, but am I asking too much of this machine security wise. Would it help to introduce a hub/switch between this machine and the outside world.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

No, millions run a configuration like just like that one. Just make sure you run up2date every so often (or click the system tray icon) to stay secure and you're set.

I wouldn't bother with Wine unless you have a specific need for it, which for a toy machine you probably don't. In general, investigate the native options first, and only use Wine as a last resort.

Well for firewall, etc I disagree with using RedHat and definately a GUI on it. I suggest OpenBSD for firewall usage.

Yeah mhearn is right. In my experience experimenting with WINE is like playing with plutonium. It crashes often and you don't want things crashing on your gateway.

Thanks for the info! I don't need WINE, I just want to check it out. I'll probably just leave my primary as a dual boot and play with it there.