On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:48:49 -0600 Jason Hsu <jhsu802...@jasonhsu.com> wrote:
> Since I'm looking for a job as a Linux IT consultant, I need a > portfolio of favorite server applications - firewall, DHCP server, > mail server, print server, etc. Just as I have favorite distros for > the desktop (Puppy Linux, Linux Mint, antiX/Swift Linux) and favorite > desktop applications (like OpenOffice and Sylpheed), I should have > favorite server applications. > > I can tell you about one application I don't like: the Firehol > firewall program. It's pre-installed in antiX Linux. Every time I > boot up or start this program, I get an error message about > get-iana.sh. I did a Google search and tried some of the suggestions > I found but still couldn't get Firehol working properly. I'd rather > use something that doesn't require so much tweaking. I'm looking for > an alternative for Swift Linux (www.swiftlinux.org, the distro I > started). > In view of the first sentence above, throw away your firewall apps and learn to use iptables directly. It is of such importance as a network troubleshooting tool that you need to be fluent in reading an existing script and adding logging lines in appropriate places. Remember, if someone else is writing your firewall script, you don't know what it is doing. You only get away with 'not so much tweaking' if you're a user, not if you're an admin. I'd recommend mc as a file manager and text editor. A server won't usually have a GUI, that's a Windows thing, and I find mc more generally useful than ls and cd (while using them when appropriate). And I'm willing to court unpopularity by admitting I absolutely loathe vi and its children. Hey, Windows 7 still has Edlin... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edlin There are lightweight DNS servers and caches, but if you expect to deal with networks generally, get to know BIND. Learn to link it to dhcp3 (no, it's not done by default) as an exercise in remote updating and associated permissions. Learn at least one mail server well. I've used Postfix in the past, but I've used the Debian default of exim4 for some years now. As an exercise, find out how to drop SMTP connections from specified country codes in the HELO and/or sender address. Learn how to set up an OpenLDAP address book, and either MySQL or postgresql with PHP and Apache, then link the address book to web pages. Many email clients can use LDAP address books, but few can update them. I'll shock everyone by admitting I like phpmyadmin for dealing with MySQL. I can't remember the last time I drove MySQL from the command line. Learn Samba, from creating an anonymous-access file share up to integration with Windows domain controllers and clients. It's Samba that deals with printer sharing in a mixed network, while CUPS is the actual server. You are ambitious, perhaps? Try compiling FreeRADIUS with SSL support (Debian doesn't do that, due to OpenSSL licensing) and using it to secure a wireless network. Then you'll know why some people use Windows servers. Another reason is the Outlook-Exchange system, with an LDAP Global Address List that you don't have to build from scratch. As to size, my system is under 2GB, with bzipped backups not quite fitting on a CD. It's currently running on a five year old (new hard drive) HP workstation, with half a gig of RAM. That's lightweight enough for me. The current Windows Small Business Server wants a 60GB system partition and a minimum 8GB of RAM. Of course, it does much more than my Debian box, but not any more of what I actually want done. -- Joe -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20110228220026.64f93...@jresid.jretrading.com
