Linux Resources

Where to get it

People often ask me "where do I get a copy?" There are some options in New Zealand for this.

• For the very poor (must be patient) you can download from one of the FTP sites - try the one listed below. I do recommend getting a set of CDROMs from one of the following places though.
• Dr. Floppy Computers, 421 Queen Street, Auckland City. They are up the top end near K' Road on the west side. Their phone number is (09) 377 0442. They seem to have some in stock almost all the time.
• Quay Computers, 1 Bowen St. Wellington. Phone (04) 499 3368. I have not visited Quay Computers, but they are often mentioned as having fresh copies of the latest releases of the CDROM sets.
• Linux books often come with a CDROM. This is a good idea for someone who is new to Linux, as the instructions are all there. Check your local bookshops.

Platforms

Linux was originally created on Intel/ISA PCs. The standard Linux kernel has now expanded to run on Intel/ISA/EISA/PCI PCs. There are ports in various stages of progress to other CPUs and architectures. Here is a list of some with WWW pages:

• MCA info - IBM's Micro Channel Architecture
• SPARCLinux info - for Sun SparcStations and clones
• UltraLinux - for UltraSPARC machines, including SBUS and PCI buses.
• Linux m68k - Ataris and Amigas
• MkLinux - Linux integrated with the OSF Mach microkernel. Runs on some PowerPC based Macintoshes. I hear that it has been ported to HP 9000 too.
• Linux/pmac. This is a port to PCI based PowerPC Macintoshes directly without using OSF Mach.
• Linux for PowerPC. This version is for IBM and Motorola machines (PReP - PowerPC Reference Platform).
• Linux/Alpha - the Digital Alpha CPU, fastest on the planet (?).
• Linux/Mips - a port to MIPS R3000 and R4x00 based machines. Still early stages.
• ARM Linux for Acorn Archimedes and close relatives.
• Linux on Vaxstations

Firewalls

Linux already has packet filtering and masquerading (NAT to single IP number) out of the box. RedHat even comes with a www,ftp and gopher proxy called Squid out of the box. So it is possible to build a firewall with no extra software needed. However there are some extra features and functionality (notably better ftp support) offered by these packages:

• SINUS Firewall Page - an implementation of a packet filtering firewall with GUI maintenance, alerting etc. Does not do masquerading, so protects a network or networks of internet IP numbers - i.e. web server(s).
• Juniper - a firewall implementation based on transparent proxies. It protects a network of private IP numbers and does not allow any inbound connections.
• FireWall ToolKit - a website supporting the TIS FireWall ToolKit from Trusted Information Systems. Also has some information about ipfwadm and ipchains.

Using the firewall features of Linux is nowhere as easy as buying a commercial package with installation program and GUI configuration, but on the other hand if it is easy to install it can be installed without understanding how it works or how TCP/IP security works in general, which may mean that the security is not as good.

The Freefire Project contains lots of information and links about open-source firewall programs and tools.

Links

Just some links which I have found interesting:

• Good reasons to use Linux and drop Microsoft, Feb 2003.
• How to create a Linux-based network of computers for peanuts - an article from Linuxworld.
• An article on Y2K and Linux. Unixlike systems like Linux do not have major problems, because of some features of their internal structure. Any recently installed Linux system is Y2K compliant even on some non-compliant computers. Note that I do not offer any warrantee that Linux or any of the associated programs are Y2K compliant or perform any function correctly at all.
• Wavelan PCMCIA driver.
• WaveLAN/IEEE driver.
• RAID Solutions for Linux - information and links for hardware and software RAID.
• Wavelan and other radio information for Linux
• A Timeline of Linux in 1998 - by Linux Weekly news, lwn.net.
• VNC - Virtual Network Computing, a system for remote access between X, Win9x, WinNT and Macintosh.
• freshmeat - most new releases of linux/unix world software get announced here.
• Unix vs NT Server 4.0 A white paper outlining the technical superiority of Unix.
• Linux Banners and advocacy information - promote Linux on your web pages.
• Linux Enterprise Computing - information on Linux in a commercial setting.
• Linux Databases and Tools - one of the pages listing available applications for Linux.
• Red Hat's Errata page - just so I can find it quickly.
• Masquerading Info - specifically applications known to work with masquerading.
• Latest Linux Version - for those who must know what is the very latest version.
• Linux Applications and Utilities Page - find programs by program type
• The Linux Gazette is a WWW magazine.
• DLX - a small boot-floppy kit.
• www.linux.org
• The Linux Home Page - a lofty title, but is a very good place to start looking for anything concerning Linux.
• Some Linux WWW links from The Linux Home Page.
• The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard which is a map of the Linux filesystem.
• Common problems (and their answers) page
• Some network tools and a driver for Wavelan cards
• A New Zealand FTP archive at The Open Polytech of NZ. Includes a (partial) mirror of Sunsite
• Linux v2 Information - includes information on upgrading to 2.0.x, official patches, unofficial patches and now has 2.1.x series patches as well.
• Andy Tanenbaum's Minix Information Sheet. Minix is another Unix clone, which was the seed for Linux. Minix is deliberately kept small with few features, as it is used for teaching OS's at Universities.

Disclaimer: Anything you find on my personal pages (they have "~richard" as part of the location) is not official policy of PlaNet FreeNZ.