[KLUG Members] KLUG Meeting Notes for 04/22/2003
magoo
members@kalamazoolinux.org
22 Apr 2003 23:43:19 -0400
KLUG Meeting Notes: Tuesday - April 22, 2003 7:00PM
I. PRESENTATION RECAP
II. NEXT WEEK'S MEETING INFO <=== Whats New With PHP!!!
III. KLUG MAILING LISTS
IV. KLUG & LINUX NEWS FLASHES
V. KLUG CONTACT & MEETING INFO
Tonight's Meeting Moderator: KLUG Chairperson Todd Pillars
I. PRESENTATION RECAP
THIS WEEK'S KLUG PRESENTATION: (31 active KLUG participants)
*****************************************************************
A Floppyfw Demonstration
BY Bill Hollett
Floppyfw is a Linux firewall. It enables a PC to act as a router
with the advanced firewall-capabilities in Linux that fits on one
single floppy disk. He'll be demonstrating the ease of set-up using
a Windows computer to download and create the floppy to use on a
blank Pentium box with two NIC cards and no HD. The firewall will be
automatically configured. He'll also show how to overcome the size
limitations of the floppy while adding packages using Brian Freeman's
new post-wpk package. Copies of this package will be made available.
Requirements & features of Floppyfw include: - Works on a 386sx or
better with two network interface cards, a 1.44MB floppy drive and
12 MByte of RAM - Very simple packaging system, can be used for
adding editors, PPP, VPN, traffic shaping, etc. - Logging through
klogd/syslogd, both local and remote. - Serial support for console
over serial port. - DHCP server and DNS cache for internal networks.
PRESENTATION SUMMARY: W O W !
*******************************
Bill had a packed room of Linux dweebs eager to learn all about
firewall security for networks connected to the internet. He
broke up his audience repeatedly with humor and his presentation
into four parts. The introduction, a demo of FFW <aka floppy
firewall> operating, how to overcome the 1.44 Mb size limitation
of a floppy disk, and an actual demo of how YOU can make your own
floppy firewall disk to get FFW up and running in a matter of
minutes!
We learned about the "cool factor" and all the support the Open
Source community can offer an application like FFW! Check out:
http://www.zerlow.no/floppyfw/ (project leader Thomas Lundquist)
Get your software hear and plug into all the support resources!
PART 1 - The Introduction!
**************************************
Running from a laptop Bill displayed his presentation from the
Billtron web server. He is a web developer so it was natural
to use this presentation format!
http://billtron.com/klug/ffw.php
What is a firewall?
Why do we need it?
What doesn't a firewall do?
What is a floppy firewall?
How does a floppy firewall work?
Benefits of FFW!
Testimonies
Options
PART 2 - The Demo
**************************************
Bill used a Pentium I - 100 MHz with 16 Mb RAM & NO hard drive!
He popped a floppy disk into the PC and up it came! That simple!
A Linux firewall ready to defend your perimeter against zombies,
port scanners, root rustlers, shawdowed password file decrypters,
credit card number cowboys, remote console creeps, lurkers, pro
crackers, buffer over-runners, and script kiddies!
PART 3 - Overcoming Size Limitations!
**************************************
Need to pack more on your firewall box than you can fit on a
1.44 Mb floppy? NO PROBLEM! You are limited only by the RAM
on your firewall hardware. Load your software on any web server
and the floppy firewall will access this code and load up your
PC's RAM memory with all the utilities you could want.
Read more about it here:
http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw/download/packages/packageloader
It is a simple as these three easy steps!
1. Put your filelist in /var/www/packages
2. Add post-wpk.ini to /packages on your floppy!
3. Edit A:\config to add www_packages = "X"
Where "X" is the URL to your filelist file on your web server
PART 4 - Creating your own FFW disk!
**************************************
[From a M$ Windows box... no less!]
1. Go to the Zelow download web page
2. Download current FFW v2.0 series floppy image
3. Download Winimage
4. Run Winimage
5. Insert image of FFW
6. Select Disk from the menu and choose format & write
7. Open config w/ Notepad [use shift - right click]
8. Edit just one spot... DHCP_DAEMON = Y
9. Save as a text document
10. All done... boot the disk and be secure!
HARDWARE?
Grab a Pentium I (now used for doorstops) selling for $50 or less
and slap a couple of network cards and a modem into it. BLING BLING!
PCI network cards cost $20 each. Don't screw up and get a Winmodem!
Find a used Linux compatible REAL 56K modem for about $30 to $40.
MULTIPLE CONNECTION FIREWALL HINT!
**************************************
Bill keeps two floppy firewall configuration disks handy by his PC.
One disk is set up to run with his DSL internet connection. He also
keeps a disk labeled MODEM on top of the PC in case his DSL connection
goes down. He can just pop in the modem disk and load up his dialup
configuration. Great redundancy option to keep you up and running
despite service failures. High speed or 56K... either way you have
multiple options and security in either situation. GREAT IDEA!!!
BONUS! Bill role-played what it is like to be a smooth IT technology
wizard and letting the boss know that the great firewall is now being
installed... just give the crew some uninterrupted time. Turn up the
jams <Eric Clapton dealing out Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues">
and order up some pizza... Bill had a half-dozen tasty pizzas or so
delivered for the hungry attendees to gobble down while the music was
playing. IT work can be a party with Linux and Open Source! Was that
the message? We got it and ate it up... while grooving to 'Slowhand'
and some classical blues beats! This was more of the "COOL FACTOR!"
If you missed this presentation put the big L sign on your forehead!
Bill Hollett is the owner of Billtron Services, an independent
contracting entity specializing in web site development and
programming and information interchange via the web.
http://billtron.com
II. NEXT KLUG MEETING - TUESDAY 04/29/2003
******************************************************************
Script-O-Mania: Whats New With PHP
by Bill Hollett
---------------------------------------------------------------
Editor's Note:
How can Bill top this week's Floppy Firewall Presentation?
You better be at the meeting to find out... you should avoid
the big L on your forehead this week! Don't miss it!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------
The first thing that attracts many people to PHP is its ability
to handle data from the web. GET and POST variables are today's
duct tape and bailing wire that can fix almost anything. Tie
those with a database back end and the thing runs amazingly
well. But, several issues came up that necessitated a change
in the way PHP handles variables. Have you heard of
"superglobals" yet? If you're using a newer version of PHP
you may be tempted to just "turn them back on." Don't. Or,
at least, Don't Yet. We'll be talking about what PHP does,
what issues came up, how PHP decided to handle them and how
you can handle them too. Then you can turn superglobals on
selectively when you need them, and keep on cooking with PHP.
Bill Hollett is the owner of Billtron Services, an independent
contracting entity specializing in web site development and
programming and information interchange via the web.
III. K L U G M A I L I N G L I S T S -
*************************************************************
Diversified mailing lists can be found on the KLUG web site.
http://kalamazoolinux.org/listserv/
Facilitated by - John Bridleman listmaster@kalamazoolinux.org
Sign up and participate to serve the Open Source community!!!
IV. K L U G & L I N U X N E W S F L A S H E S ! ! !
=====================================================================
DARPA CANCELS OPENBSD PROJECT FUNDING AFTER ANTI-WAR COMMENTS
"The U.S. military's research agency cut off grant money for helping
to develop a secure, free operating system after a top programmer
made anti-war statements to a major newspaper.
http://linuxtoday.com/developer/2003041900726NWBDPB
http://bsd.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/17/2332233&
mode=thread&tid=122&tid=98&tid=172
=====================================================================
O'REILLY: LINUX IS... THE BACHELOR!
"Sun stood with one hand on her hip and the other twirling her long,
pretty blonde hair. 'I really like Linux. I think he's really got
it together. I mean he has so much energy. I can definitely see
myself as Mrs. Linux...'"
http://linuxtoday.com/it_management/2003041900726OPBZCY
=====================================================================
IPCOP RELEASES V1.3.0 NOW WITH IPTABLES [submitted by Bruce Smith]
IPCop just announced the new 1.3.0 release, complete with iptables!
Bruce has it downloaded and already burned on CDR for your use.
See the BS-Ware software list at http://kalamazoolinux.org/bsware
To reserve your copy: bsware@kalamazoolinux.org
http://www.ipcop.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/IPCop/WebHome
=====================================================================
SCO RELEASES LINUX FOR ITANIUM OS BASED ON UNITEDLINUX
The SCO Group has released a Linux server operating system for the
64-bit Intel Itanium processor, the company announced Tuesday.
SCO Linux Server 4.0 for the Itanium Processor Family is based on
UnitedLinux 1.0, the Linux operating system being marketed by a
coalition of four Linux companies, in an effort to promote Linux
interoperability and compete with U.S. market Linux leader Red Hat.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/04/16/HNscolinux_1.html?platforms
=====================================================================
BOOK REVIEW: MANAGING RAID ON LINUX
The only book of its kind so far, this one offers advice for
selecting the type and level of RAID you should use.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6810&mode=thread&order=0
=====================================================================
802.11 PLANET: WIRELESS VPN SUPPORTS LINUX
"Secure wireless software developer Columbitech of Stockholm and
New York, whose wireless VPN technology powers Symbol's AirBEAM
brand of products, is supporting Linux servers in its latest
version..."
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2003041700726NWHWNT
=====================================================================
INFO WORLD CANCELS THE OPEN SOURCE COLUMN BY PAVLICEK
The Open Source - The open road ahead! The Open Source concludes
this week, but the open-source movement continues to gain momentum
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/04/18/16osource_1.html
=====================================================================
HEWLETT PACKARD DROPS GNOME2 EFFORTS
"Now it is official, HP will not make further investments in Gnome.
They will stick with the old (and crappy) CDE. Here is the
announcement This is the official statement if they are pressed
for an explanation: 'The open source development of GNOME v2.0
was still on-going at the end of 2002, and did not stabilize in
the timeframe that HP had earlier anticipated. This and other
business and industry factors required us to re-assess our plans.'"
http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/16/2016221
&mode=thread&tid=173&tid=189&tid=131
=====================================================================
NOVELL TO MAKE LINUX ROBUST AND RELIABLE?
"It seems the folks over at Novell have the answer to making the
"immature" Linux OS more "robust, reliable and scaleable"
according to this Computer Weekly article. We have a lot more
problems to use and keep running our NetWare 5 and 6 servers
at our University than we've ever had with any of our Linux
servers. I can't wait for Novell to help us out here."
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/16/229244
&mode=thread&tid=190&tid=106
http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/2191051
=====================================================================
WINEX V3.0 RELEASED - LINUX GAMERS CELEBRATE
TransGaming is pleased to announce the release of WineX 3.0, dubbed
"Milliway", giving our users access to more Windows games in Linux,
with greater ease.
http://downloads.transgaming.com/files/winex-3_0_releasenotes.txt
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2003041701026NWGMSW
=====================================================================
TRIDGELL TAKING SAMBA BEYOND POSIX [submitted by TAZ]
"The Australian hacker has been working on pushing Samba beyond
the POSIX world and figuring out what work needs to be done to
get Samba to support new filesystems such as XFS, ext3, and
Storage Tank. The answer is nothing less than a complete rewrite
of Samba's smbd code, which has become his latest pet project.
Here's an interview with Andrew Tridgell on his latest Samba
rewrite."
http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/17/144203
&mode=thread&tid=185&tid=106
http://linuxtoday.com/it_management/2003041701626INSWDV
=====================================================================
CONFIGURING YOUR LAPTOP FOR GNOME AND SOUND
Tutorial In part 3 of his series on Linux and the laptop, Jay
explains how to get GNOME configured, sound modules working
and its appearance changed.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6809&mode=thread
&order=0
=====================================================================
INTRODUCING DHCP ON FREEBSD [submitted by TAZ]
"On all but the smallest TCP/IP network, it's handy to configure
network information for computers automatically. That's what
DHCP does.
http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/18/1231219
&mode=thread&tid=122
=====================================================================
OREGON'S OPEN SOURCE BILL STALLED BY MICROSOFT [submitted by TAZ]
"Previously on Slashdot we read about an Oregon bill that would
require government agencies to consider Open Source software in
addition to whichever software they would normally consider.
Unfortunately, House Bill 2892 is getting stalled by "stiff
opposition" from such unsurprising places as Microsoft."
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/18/2054202
&mode=thread&tid=103
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base
/business/1050666959318260.xml
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2003041801626OSLLPB
=====================================================================
BITSTREAM/GNOME RELEASE VERA FONT FAMILY [submitted by TAZ]
Gnome and Bitstream have released the final version of the
Vera font family. Go get it, install them, and enjoy! They
work for Linux, Windows, and Mac users too!
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/18/123246
&mode=thread&tid=189&tid=131
=====================================================================
REGULATORS TRY TO CLOSE DECEPTIVE SPAM E-MAIL OPERATION
"The San Jose Mercury News has an article on the FTC getting
ready to take action on an (alleged) spammer. 'The Federal
Trade Commission said today that after receiving about 46,000
complaints it had asked a federal judge to halt the operation.'
Too bad it took 46000 complaints to prompt some action, but at
least some action is being taken. The FTC will focus on the
"deception" involved (innocent and misleading subject lines,
bogus (but real) from/reply to addresses, etc).
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/5655181.htm
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DEBATE: SHOULD YOU HIRE A HACKER?
Kevin Mitnick squares off with his former prosecutor: can
reformed hackers be trusted to guard the corporate henhouse?
Should corporations hire known hackers with criminal records
to test and secure their networks?
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2003/
tc20030416_7638_tc029.htm
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CRYPTOGRAPHERS SOUND WARNINGS ON SECURITY PLAN
The Microsoft approach “lends itself to market domination,
lock out, and not really owning your own computer. That's
going to create a fight that dwarfs the debates of the
1990's,” said Diffie as part of a broad panel discussion
on cryptography at the RSA Conference
http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/OEG20030415S0013
=====================================================================
WHY LINUX IS NOT FOR YOU?
The Lengthy Rebuttal of a Linux User... "And most importantly,
I'm not someone who is going to try and convince you that you
need to switch to Linux if you're currently using Windows. Let
me go one step further... I'm going to tell you why Linux is
NOT for you. Hopefully the people I'm talking to will be seeing
clearly enough to know who they are by the end of this article..."
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2003041701726OPDTSW
=====================================================================
SPRING INTO LINUX TRAINING
"One of the main barriers to corporate Linux adoption is simple
unfamiliarity. A cure for that is employee training, which
benefits not only the organization but the employees..."
http://linuxtoday.com/it_management/2003041701326OPBZDP
=====================================================================
WHY MANDRAKE V9.1 MAKES ME LAUGH
"Somewhere along the way Mandrake faltered. Be it the fault of
a management team that tried to spread it's roots into eLearning,
not adapting to the market fast enough, or lacking a clear focus
Mandrake has fallen into disarray..." [Link is back up. -ed.]
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2003041700326OPMDSW
=====================================================================
INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR DAVID COSTA OF COLLEGELINUX
"Today, we interview Prof. David Costa of the Robert Kennedy
College in Delémont, Switzerland regarding their initiative
behind CollegeLinux..."
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2003041900326INSWPB
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I T I S P A R T Y T I M E ! ! !
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
KLUG 4TH OF JULY P A R T Y IS POSTED ON THE WEB SITE - RSVP ASAP!
Go to the KLUG web site for the details and to sign up if you are
planning on attending the KLUG 4TH of July party this year. PARTY!!!
THE DETAILS
http://kalamazoolinux.org/party/p-details.php
RSVP
http://kalamazoolinux.org/party/rsvp.php
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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[ *** N O T E D A T E C O R R E C T I O N *** ]
BUSINESS EXPO IS PLANNED FOR THURSDAY MAY 22ND AT THE RADISSON HOTEL.
The Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce will be holding another business
exposition in the Grand Ballroom at the Radisson Plaza Hotel. There
will be an "IT Zone" designated that will highlight digital technology.
A KLUG speaker is also needed to make a presentation in the IT Zone's
program. Please contact Bob at publicitydirector@kalamazoolinux.org
if you can volunteer as a presenter for this event.
=====================================================================
KLUG NEEDS VOLUNTEERS TO FILL SEVERAL VACANT POSITIONS
Nutrimaster and Education Director volunteer slots are still
vacant. We need additional volunteers to act as the "Meeting
Firewall" to handle Chamber access control and security issues.
The Chamber has asked us to safeguard their assets as KLUG
members come and go from the meeting room each Tuesday night.
Bob and Zac need help with this function which requires that
you get to the meetings early and see that the everything is
locked up as the last person leaves. This means being at the
Chamber at 6:30pm and hanging around until 10:00pm. We have
other volunteer positions available and many of these duties
could be shared if you have an interest. GET INVOLVED IN KLUG!
Volunteers are needed for Beginner's Nights and Installfests.
Please contact installmaster@kalamazoolinux.org for more details.
See http://kalamazoolinux.org/organize for position descriptions.
=====================================================================
********* - ********* - ********* - ********* - ********* - *********
KLUG NEEDS SPEAKERS FOR THE WEEKLY LINUX RELATED PRESENTATIONS!
********* - ********* - ********* - ********* - ********* - *********
Contact Adam if you can give a presentation on any area of Linux
related subject or application. He would also like to hear your
suggestions for topics and possible speaker referrals. Do you
know anyone who is using Linux in Southwest Michigan and might
be willing to share their Linux expertise by making a technical
presentation? Professional, individual, or commercial speakers
on Linux accepted. Contact programdirector@kalamazoolinux.org
with your referrals and ideas. See the meeting schedule for open
dates. http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/schedule.php3
=====================================================================
V. K L U G C O N T A C T & M E E T I N G I N F O
*************************************************************
KLUG WEB SITE http://kalamazoolinux.org
MEMBERS AND GUESTS - COME JOIN US FOR A MEETING!!!
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings
WE MEET WEEKLY, EACH TUESDAY AT 7:00PM.
Our meeting site is the Kalamazoo Chamber
of Commerce office building downtown.
346 W. Michigan Ave. - Kalamazoo, MI 49007
http://kazoolug.org/meetings/maps.php3 <=== MAP!
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Kalamazoo Linux Users Group, Inc.
6749 South Westnedge Avenue
Suite K-288
Portage MI 49002
e-mail address: chair@kalamazoolinux.org
Copyright 2003
Kalamazoo Linux Users Group, Inc.
>><< send corrections, additions, flames to the KLUG scribe >><<
Ralph Worick
recordingsecretary@kalamazoolinux.org
= or =
KLUG Meeting Notes Assistant Editor
Bruce Atherton
Taz <htgage3@chartermi.net>