Importance of firewall in linux?

[oosterhouse]

How important is it to have a firewall in linux? Thanks for your opinions.

[gtmtnbiker98]

Well, it depends on whether or not you leave the front door to your house standing wide open. Basic security is common sense and it is highly recommended that you use a firewall, irregardless of environment.

[TheAngelsOwl]

If you want your box rooted then no, don't install a firewall.

It would be great if there was some kind of regulation put in place globally across the internet ( peers would have to enforce these regulations of course ) that everyone should have some level of security in place to stop intruders.

On my personal linux box ( workstation ) i have these installed;

snort + acid ( IDS )
apf + iptables
chkroot
tripwire
bastille

[oosterhouse]

I have mine enabled now (I think), here's what it looks like:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v221/u...t=08451cdc.png

It doesn't really have the same type of options a Windows Firewall would have, so I figured I wouldn't worry about it much.