how to check if a firewall is running and to configure one

Hi

I have recently installed slackware 10 onto a bare pc which connects to the net through a router. I thought there was no firewall turned on, but some software (gtk-gnutella) claims it is TCP firewalled.

I didnt think i had a firewall even installed, but looking arround, i of course have iptables...but i dont know anything about it. Ive veiwed its list of stuff, but it all seems empty, no rules defined so does that mean its effectivly inactive?

Also, how can i set it up, all i want to do is use the box as a web server, samba server and gtk-gnutella if i ever get it working, so how should i set up iptables

thanks!

My iptables script is based on the examples found in IP-Masquerade HOW-TO. The examples are great, so check it out, and modify it to your needs

samba generally requires port 136-139 to be opened and 80 and 443 for http

btw, to check if your iptables contains any rules, just type iptables -L at your shell prompt

good luck