Ubuntu 6.06 criticisms from a programmer

Why "evil hack"??

Huh? OpenBSD's packet filter is a thing of beauty, a very fine-grained tool indeed.

I don't understand your comment. I understand IP rather well, but I wouldn't expect the average computer user to. Why should they be denied an easy form of protection?

Steve

Some people consider it an "evil hack", partly because it makes it almost impossible to get incoming connections, and thus buggers up certain types of legitimate traffic (such as those for agreeing about MTU sizes). It can also be a bottleneck when you have a lot of connections (it makes a good bittorrent setup harder). And it is a hack, having been originally invented to allow more computers on the net without using global IP addresses. However, most people who consider it "evil" are the people who are capable of controlling and securing their connections, and who think that *their* nice clean internet has been ruined by all these pesky kids.

The most obvious characteristic of a NAT router is that the computers on one side are invisible to everything on the other side. That is an enormous benefit, and far outweighs the disadvantages for the great majority of users. Any traffic from your PC can go out, nothing unexpected can come in. Since a "firewall" is simply a blocking system for limiting unwanted traffic, a NAT router in itself provides an excellent firewall. Combine that with the fact that setup of a NAT router is almost a no-brainer (at least, for ISPs that sensibly use "Ethernet" connections instead of some silly PPoE or PPTP bandwidth waster), and it is the single most important feature of a firewall.

Clearly, a firewall can be much more than this. For more advanced use, you might want to poke holes to run a webserver on the inside, or to allow particular types of access from particular IP addresses, or to limit outgoing traffic. You can also filter on higher levels, such as filtering http traffic. And a software firewall on a PC (or "application policy tool", as Paul aptly named it) can give you tight control over specific applications. But these are not of interest to the average user, and their complexity is overwhelming for most people. A large proportion of zombie PC's have software firewalls installed, but disabled - simply because the user could not understand how to allow their browser or computer game internet access without turning it off.

Absolutely. Let those who need advanced setups use OpenBSD or Linux with their packet filters for their internet-facing servers, and put a NAT router between everything else and the 'net.

Back in the early days of motoring you HAD to know how to fix your own car or not drive. In Europe getting a driver's license involves knowing how to fix a flat tire (change it at least) and basic mechanical stuff, and women are not exempt.

Yes, but they are overzealous to the point of being a total pain in the ass. Take Asbestos, where the tearing out of pre-existing material releases it into the air creating even more of a problem. Why not lust let the buildings die of old age?

Like a Windows Internet and a Linux/Mac/everyone else Internet? I wish.

Makes sense. Out of the 100,000 or so claimed global newsgroups, a quick look shows many that are dead and have been ever since someone got the name listed. Many show less than 100 messages, ever. Bill Baka

How about, if you haven't got a clue how it works you have no business using it? Bill Baka

Maybe I misnamed it, What do you call the dohicky that connects the connecting rod to the piston?

That is an idea at that. Or maybe no OS on net unless it conforms to standards.

You won't sell very many consumer products that way. :o)

Are you talking about that round thing-a-ma-jig?

Gudgeon pin?

I would go for that. Windows for simple stuff, games, and simple people (sorry, literally). Linux for more serious and technical stuff. I am not going elitist here, but there is so much Windows authored junk on the 'net that sometimes it is hard to get by all of it to find the meaningful stuff. Just do a simple Google of just about anything and you will get millions of hits, most of them totally junk and mostly links to Windows sites. Bill Baka

How about products that allow the consumer to access more features as they learn, like at least knowing the difference between 802.11a, b, and g? Force them to learn at least something, and not just the latest game cheats, which is something my grandson spends way too much time on the Internet doing. Unfortunately, most consumers have more money to spend on toys than brains to put things to good use. Sorry, hard ass mode invoked. Bill Baka

That would be the British pronunciation :) or piston pin, wrist pin...

Dang went looking for proof and can not find cylinder rod.

When I was a kid I was smarting off my supposed engine knowledge and the waitress at a Dairy Queen asked what it was called. I popped of wrist pin. She said if I went down to (cannot remember actual name) autoparts I had better call it cylinder pin if that is what I wanted.

I asked how she knew and she repied she had worked there several years and had to know all the parts names. I never looked it up to see if she was right or not.

I'll conceed it was bad information on my part.

Gudgeon pin or wrist pin. Pondian specific.

Not a bad idea, except that someone else will just offer a distro that gives them more features without having to learn anything.

I quit playing games when game makers got this bright idea that they could make it impossible to win without knowing secret codes that nobody would ever guess, just so you'd have to buy their overpriced cheatbooks. I can look up the cheats for free online but that's not the point. The challenge is to figure out the solutions by myself. Having to go look up secret codes breaks the flow and takes away the sense of accomplishment.

Games and the excess time kids spend playing them are one of my pet peeves. When he told me he was going to play soccer I thought "Good" until I found out it was some video game he found. There just have to be better ways to get kids into computers. Bill Baka

In comp.os.linux.misc bill wrote: :> :> : How about, if you haven't got a clue how it works you have no business : using it? : Bill Baka

OK- just for the fun of it-

Bill: please explain the quantum physics involved in the semiconductors in the computer that you are using. Or even explain the basic tradeoffs in the choice of doping profile for the RAM cells as contrasted with the active transistors for the FPU.

You _do_ know how your computer works, right?

Stan

More than you think. Intel tried to hire me as a manager of a new fab in Washington but I turned them down since they only contacted me after it was built and the local housing had already gone through the roof. Explain the physics to a programmer? Yeah, right. Bill Baka Engineer, but not an Intel fan.

In comp.os.linux.misc bill wrote: :> : More than you think. Intel tried to hire me as a manager of a new fab in : Washington but I turned them down since they only contacted me after it : was built and the local housing had already gone through the roof. : Explain the physics to a programmer? : Yeah, right. : Bill Baka : Engineer, but not an Intel fan.

I'm a hardware engineer ( microwave, RF, et al )-- so explain away.

Please start with doping profiles for the RAM chips in your computer. What are the basic tradeoffs needed?

Stan

This was in 2000 and they wanted me to be up on 'Tunneling transistors' at that time, but mostly a manager to oversee things. These days I understand doping, but since I am not paid to worry about it, I usually stop at around the InGaAs point due to the absurd amount of different materials being experimented with. Looking at the chemistry of LEDs can be scary in itself. My RAM chips, huh? Speed, power, yield, voltage, leakage, COST, and just about anything else that can be measured. My big background was designing semiconductor test equipment, but even 2000 was like ancient history compared to today. I grew up using point contact transistors, Germanium then Silicon, then in the late 80's all hell broke loose with different types of semiconductor being experimented on. I know what they are doing, but give a shit about the details anymore. Bill Baka