review of hardening guide

[Stuart Ellis]

> Well, I think there is a little bit of both opinions here.  Maybe there
> are some assumptions that I have made that would be beyond the most
> basic user.  And I admit that this could be a failing of my writing.
> I've been using Linux off and on since '97, so some assumptions I make
> may be completely obscured to the most basic user.  While this document
> isn't meant to be the end-all-be-all document to securing a Fedora
> system, I think that it covers a fairly broad spectrum of potential
> readers.  And, I think that it should serve as a guide to users who are
> just beginning in linux, and those who maybe familiar with linux, but
> aren't aware of some of the security problems associated with it.

Please don't take my comment as a criticism of your text - I like it a
lot.

The thing is that I support people on forums and really do see questions
like "I don't like Windows and I've got these Fedora discs, what do I do
now ?".  Sometimes even advanced Windows users are a complete state of
bewilderment because of all the new concepts they are hit with (source
code vs. packages, su and root privileges etc. etc.).  If you hit a
newbie with a large chunk of information at once they lose confidence
and give up, even though they are capable of understanding it.   I feel
that your guide is for people comfortable enough with Linux to have the
confidence to work through it, but I also feel that it's a good overview
for that audience.
--

Stuart Ellis