Linux Firewalls.....

[Jammit]

Hmmmmm as a LONG term Wimdoze user... and with a slow migration over to the Linux camp on a full time basis - for the last 7 years or so...

I am faced with an issue of the lack of clear explanation - or the lack of them, in my Linux Apps.

One of the issues I face is that I had / have a REALLY old Free Kerio Firewall on the XP os, and one had a choice to make it permission based - meaning that if an application wanted to access it's home base - like the MS FREEWARE calling back to MS to register it's self, the firewall would stop it, and ask you to accept or deny it's access to the web - either on that occasion or permanently.

I really liked that system.

It was simple - there was no ambiguity and I had direct and complete control over everything - as I understood it.

What I am now faced with in using aMule on Ubu (Ubuntu) is that with several of the firewalls I have tried - being Firestarter, Better Firewall - and some time a while back, Guard Dog (trying again) - they block the KAD connection - which gives me a LOW ID value, and there is as far as I can see, NO direct way to enable this function on these firewalls and no matter what combinations or the "all or nothing" makes any difference.

So there is the two issues, the almost complete lack of any information on what all the functions are, and then how to enable the KAD access via the firewall.

I also have found that there is much in the way of poorly written, and an abundant lack of explanation or a cognitive "joining of the dots".

In Guard Dog which I have just installed - it pop's up this message:

"Since you do not have superuser privileges, Guarddog is running with
reduced functionality. Firewall scripts may be Imported/Exported, but
the system's firewall settings may not be changed."

OK - but forget telling me HOW I can't - because that is not useful to me or anyone else - but telling me HOW TO is the only useful thing to me - yet it's not included.

That means even more ****ing around searching up information - on how to engage this program via super user mode...

It's NOT included - in the popup, there are no (stupid) links to a website or download page - nothing.

The lack of that ONE little bit of information, means that 10,000's of people get ****ed around - when - IF the programmer/s were half way decent they would have either included the function or told one how to operate it via SU.

For all the merrits of "open source" and consumer created software, there is much in the way of main stream programs that ARE sloppily written or served up in a fashion that is entirely inadequate - and it makes 10X the amount of work for everyone who touches it, instead of having enough self respect to get it right and finished off.

That lack of information, means that all the newbies or people like me who are generally quite busy and can't remember everything... we all now have to go onto the net and search up on how to access all the functions of the GuardDog firewall, - because the people who did the Guarddog program - instead of putting in a solution or a direct logical link to enabling this function - they just dropped a steel curtain and that's that.

It's really not good enough.

They are still running WINMX as an app - which has been off the air since 2005 and they facilitate the use of Edonkey - but not Amule - and eDonkey is a windows app - and that has been shut down a long time ago.

There is sloppy ******** through most of these programs.

Back to the main issue:

Since the firewall writers - well they don't put in CLEAR links or configurations settings on how to enable KAD connections..... there are NO switches as in no enable / disable.

There are no HELP files... No tutorials.... (usually) .

Much of this stuff is polished off with the logic of people who make lifts and there is no "going up" or "going down" buttons, only two unmarked buttons side by side....

And when one does press either one, nothing happens.

This is what I find to be HOW most of the programs are configured.

IF linux as an operating system is going to be taken seriously - the ambiguity and poorly constructed or finished off software has to go.

It's all these little things, and the consequential journeys of discovery that I don't want to take or make, that severely offset the profitability of using freeware....

If I have to spend 4 - 8 hours sorting out some problem, well IF I am worth say $25 an hour, then I'd rather pay for a DECENT bit of software, that has a trial period, and sift through those, than go poking dead horses that shouldn't have been distributed in such an incredibly poor state........

No manuals, guessing games, the lack of controls and the ambiguous settings - with not even so much as a hint at what they actually do OR how they interact with other parts of the system / firewall?

And the online manuals - for guardog - it's spread over 50 ****ing webpages...

What is wrong with a simple and downloadable PDF?

Don't these people "Get it"?

How to enable the KAD access of aMule via the firewall?

I have a head ache and a life...... enough for now!

I want the equivalent to a Kerio (free) Firewall for Linux.

[Bemk]

Well, there indeed is a problem with documentation, but that's because people who write the apps generally do it for them selves. However, there are folks who do write documentation and most of the time your problem lies in finding it. You being unable to find the documentation doesn't mean it isn't there.

[Ziplock]

There may well be issues with documentation, but the good thing about a community driven OS like Linux is the community! Like this one! Ask a question, get an answer, share the knowledge with everyone.

You can even update the doco with the projects if you feel inclined.

Read the following for more: (From the http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...explained.html)

Linux is NOT Windows

[Dapper Dan]

I want the equivalent to a Kerio (free) Firewall for Linux.

Instead of subjecting us to your ranting, why don't you contact Kerio and ask them to create a (free) Firewall for Linux?

[jayd512]

Since you're trying different apps, why not write some tips and tricks type documents and submit them? Instead of focusing on the problem, why not contribute to the solution?