Start again on the newbie's networking problem. Re: Need help (of course) setting up network

[Rodolfo J. Paiz]

At 13:41 4/26/2004, you wrote:
>Did starting a new thread help? Hope so. But it looks confusing to me.

All that happens is that the mailing-list software adds "In-Reply-To" and 
other headers (which you normally don't see) which explain who answered 
whom and keeps the conversation in a logical order, for those email clients 
that support it. Each conversation is called a "thread" and simply changing 
the subject line does not start a new thread. So, if you reply to a thread 
about compiler inefficiencies and change the subject, most people will 
simply delete the entire thread because they're not interested in it, and 
you won't get any replies.

That's why it's best to start a new thread (simply by starting a new 
message instead of replying), so that everyone sees your message and you 
start your own conversation. This also helps people reading through or 
searching through the archives later on, which are organized by thread.

>We are on a hub so I don't need 2 ethernet cards.

You should make all the Windows machines go *through* the Linux machine to 
get to the Internet, since it is a great (free) opportunity to improve your 
security and protection drastically by setting up the firewall on Linux. 
That's what my first response was about... setting up the firewall with 
Shorewall.

However, in order to do this you *do* need to separate your internal 
computer from the network. The single best way ("best demonstrated 
practice") is to add a second network card to your Linux box and connect 
one card to the Internet and one card to your hub. That way nothing from 
the outside can get to your vulnerable Windows boxes without going through 
the much safer Linux box. You /can/ get networking functioning with only 
one network card, but it is so insecure that it's not worth the effort. You 
also introduce certain traffic and routing-related complications that don't 
happen with two cards.

So really... as a *very strong* suggestion: get a second network card. 
You'll improve your network and your security and your peace of mind a 
great deal.

>My big problem is I don't know how to configure the networking files and 
>samba.

 From GNOME, there is System Tools --> Network. Surely there is a similar 
configuration screen in KDE. Please read the instructions before using, 
since the Network Configuration utility allows you to use different 
profiles and is very flexible, but you *can* make mistakes. Of course, if 
this is a desktop machine and you're never going to change the profile, 
then it's very easy to use.

For Samba, make sure that SWAT is installed. (I forget how to check that in 
Fedora... if you can't find it I'll look it up). SWAT will help you 
configure Samba through a web browser and is very capable as well as easy.

>This is from the Hippocratic Oath... who the heck is J. Holt?
>This is in the context of education. J Holt tried to reform education in 
>America in the 60s & 70s. And yes he probably did quote from the 
>Hippocratic oath. SOM

OK. In this case, however, you may want to modify the quote so it doesn't 
look like Mr. Holt plagiarized Hippocrates. You're trying to make him look 
good, right? <smile>

Cheers,


-- 
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz at simpaticus.com
http://www.simpaticus.com