Hey LQ

My new computer that will have a hdd dedicated to Debian is nearly ready and I'm doing some proper research this time to insure I have the best experience.

I'm curious about software level firewalls that can show an alert when a connection is being from or to my machine that will give me some simple options like "(a) allow, (b) ignore, (c) allow and remember" and that way I would just disable all network traffic by default and wait for the prompts to come up.

Does something like this exist for Linux? Preferably open source but I'd shell out some money to buy something if I had too.

There is a simple enough syntax for firewalls. Look for example files.
There is also opendns.org. You can filter your own dns request by

• Creating a user or account with them
• Configure your dns as required.
• Use a download from them to identify your xurrent ip with that account so you get your preconfigured service.

That sorts your access, along with noscript or ublock addons. If this is a server online 24/7, get serious and pay someone to set ut up.

I was looking for the same and came across a good link that has a few options you might want to consider. Hope this helps.
I'll share the link after this post since I can't do so if this is my first post.

Here you go: Open Source Firewalls