[plug] Linux Desktop Market

[Kev]

Ha sanyone had a look at the firewall (with its own "wizard" which comes 
with Xandros?  I've no idea what it might be under the bonnet, but for 
the user it's at least as easy as any of its Windoze cousins.

Kev

Craig Ringer wrote:
> Russell Steicke wrote:
> 
>> On Thu, Oct 27, 2005 at 06:54:40PM +0800, Cameron Patrick wrote:
>>
>>> Really?  How is a Linux system any more secure than Windows against
>>> people accidentally running untrusted code?  If anything, I'd say it'd
>>> be in a worse boat: Linux doesn't even have "application-based"
>>> firewalls like Zone Alarm or virus/trojan/malware checkers.  So far
>>> these have not been necessary but they may well be if Windows-style
>>> distribution of software as unauthenticated binary executables becomes
>>> commonplace on Linux to.
>>
>>
>>
>> Surely selinux is an application-based firewall, or could be
>> configured as such.
> 
> 
> My first thought upon reading that was "oh, god no."
> 
> Windows application-based firewalls work because they can communicate 
> with the user. "This app tried to access the 'net, do you want to let it?".
> 
> Perhaps that could be done with SELinux. I'd expect random "connection 
> refused" messages instead though, and to have to go dig through some 
> even more obscure than usual logs then edit some horrific policy file to 
> get something working. Wouldn't you? I find SELinux sufficiently good at 
> producing bizarre problems already without letting it get its evil 
> tentacles too deep into the networking subsystem.
> 
> In case you haven't guessed, I'm not a fan of SELinux, at least as 
> implemented in FC4. SELinux its self seems to be a hideous tangled 
> complex mess that RH has tried to tame as best it could.
> 
> -- 
> Craig Ringer
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
> http://www.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
> Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au
> 
> 
> 

-- 
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Kev Downes
kdownes at tpg.com.au  ph 0404 7 0808 2
We use and recommend Xandros 3.0.2
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There are 10 types of people ...
    ... those who understand binary, and those who don't!
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"Jesus Christ is the centre of everything and the object of everything;
He who does not know him, knows nothing of the order of the world
and nothing of himself."             Blaise Pascal
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