A good firewall is not just a ‘would be nice to have’ any longer. No, they are mission critical these days. Thanks to Firestarter, people no longer have to feel intimidated by the complexities of setting up firewalls within Linux.

Every computer needs a good firewall for protection against various threats on the Internet. One recommendation is to use a hardware-based device to protect your computer or network, but an “out-of-the-box” device is not always sufficient–it may not be powerful enough, or it may not require the features you need. Fortunately, Linux makes a secure firewall, and with some older hardware, you can set up a dedicated firewall system.

When you’re working with a Linux firewall, manipulating iptables can be daunting. Even comprehensive packages like Shorewall require a fair amount of knowledge and time to configure. Using a GUI tool with a walk-through wizard, such as Firestarter, is typically much easier than fiddling with text-based configuration files and shell scripts. However, you should note that Firestarter still identifies iptables as a pre-requisite, because it simply configures iptables rules for your firewall. [Read the rest]