What the Linux Community needs.

Reading a article about how linux networks are begining to be
compromised more than $Windows .
What linux needs is a very easy, simple, for newbie's Frontend
for helping users use the Linux tools that are avaible to create
firewalls, etc to protect their boxes.
I myself am a little beyond the newbie stage of Linux and it's
a major task to create security protection on a linux box.
A simple or major application, whatever!!
After seeing $Windows getting nailed to the wall from the media
about their very bad security habits, I would very unhappy to see
Linux getting that treatment, Boy would'nt $Microsoft jump on that.
I'm not a Linux programmer, and I'm just throwing out ideals to
see if the will stick.
When Linux gets it's day to move out into the lime light like
$Windows I just hope we are prepared. As they say, the first
impression is the one that sticks.

Jim Tate

The problem is striking a ballance and making sure that people understand what is happening when they start checking boxes and pressing buttons.

that's the trouble with GUI's. You can have an intellegent set of default options (including having rhnd always on - maybe even pulling down new packages automatically).

But, once it's easy for a newbie to kill iptables (which it is), then if it's easy to enable telnet (which should no longer be included in a standard install) - BAM, you've got an easily compromsable system.

Thus, to me at least, GUI's (for system configuration) a both the single most dangerous feature to implement and the single most important feature to implement (to get folks on the bandwagon).

classic catch-22.

mickeyboy, you state:
I myself am a little beyond the newbie stage of Linux and it's
a major task to create security protection on a linux box.

but I fundamentally disagree. RH is (fairly) secure out of the box. It's when you jump in and start flipping bits and turning on things that were off when things get ugly - unless you know what you're doing.

personally i think we shouldn't have the newbies come on over linux ... imagine newbies on *nix systems. (2/3 of this forum will be filled with stupid questions) i think linux is fine where it is, its famous, i like it alot and i prefer it over windows: linux > windows ...

personally i think we shouldn't have the newbies come on over linux ... imagine newbies on *nix systems.

I hope its just me that is interpreting this wrong but if there were no newbies on Linux, then how would the linux userbase grow?? Everyone has to learn the new Linux structure/filesystem/OS one way or another and I'm a true believer in hands-on-learning. I've read till I was blue in the face about Linux but some of the stuff just wouldn't sink in until I was able to actually attempt it on a live linux machine.

I say: Spread the word to anyone and everyone remotely interested and get them to at least try Linux once.

Just my 2 cents.

rberry88

yes, you're right... i installed mandrake linux for my friend on his computer, so far im helping him... (he's not complaining) some people can learn linux... its not very hard. but most of the people that i have met in school (not IRC) are dense about computers... e.g: windows is too hard for them to operate. -- (they think by opening a email with text on it, will blow their computer up) but of course, anyone can try... but... i still stand on having a nice small community of linux users -- there is 1 guy i tried to convince to use linux, to _TRY_ linux but he just doesnt want to... and in a way he's right because most of the program he uses are on windows (AOL,saturn emulator,IE) etc...