firewalls and masquerading

[Michael George <george mintcity com>]

I was reading through documentation while rebuilding the kernel and it seems
that iproute2 is the "new and improved" way to do firewalling and
masquerading.  Is that assessment correct, or am I off to the wrong start?

While trying to make selections for rebuilding the kernel I noticed a lot of
different options for 2.4 w.r.t. network adress translation.  I looked at the
IP-Masquerade HOWTO, and it doesn't have info up to date for the 2.3.x and
2.4.x kernels.

I've looked on the standard install of seawolf and I see that I have
installed: iptables (which was replaced by ipchains, IIRC), ipchains (which I
used when I learned the masq stuff w/ the 2.2 kernel reading the IP-Masq
HOWTO), and iproute (which seems to be the new way).

However, I don't see much in the way of docs for iproute (I've checked in
/usr/share/doc/HOWTO, /usr/share/doc/iproute, and
/usr/src/linux/Documentation/networking), so I'm not sure how to proceed.

Something I read yesterday said that we can still use ipchains, but that will
still require a kernel rebuild for it to support masquerading (which I want to
have).  Not a big deal, but with the immensely wider array of NAT-related
choices in building the kernel, I'm not sure what all I should and should not
build.  Last time I followed IP-Masquerading-HOWTO, but that was for 2.2.x
kernels.

Could someone please point me to some useful docs.  Or at least tell me what
options I need so that I have have IP masquerading through my dial-up
connection...

Thanks!

-Michael

-- 
No, my friend, the way to have good and safe government, is not to trust it
all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one exactly
the functions he is competent to.  It is by dividing and subdividing these
republics from the national one down through all its subordinations, until it
ends in the administration of every man's farm by himself; by placing under
every one what his own eye may superintend, that all will be done for the
best.
                -- Thomas Jefferson, to Joseph Cabell, 1816