Ubuntu 6.06 criticisms from a programmer 2735

arachnid

Absolutely. Failing that, ISPs should be required by law to have the same firewall functionality (especially the NAT, and blocking *all* incoming traffic unless explicitly allowed) for their customers. It would not even be hard or costly to do - all that's needed is a web interface around the linux iptables command (or the OpenBSD equivalent).

Of the ISPs I've had dealings with over here, most seem to think that a CD with Norton is appropriate security. Some of these don't want you to have a firewall-router - they much prefer that customers have a single Windows PC + Norton connected to their ADSL modem, since that saves training their support droids to handle different situations. Others I've met are encourage the use of a firewall-router (and will sell you one at a reasonable price), while only one actively forces you to use a firewall-router. Unfortunately, this last choice is the most expensive (it's a good choice for businesses, but not for home users).

It's reasonable to connect a *nix machine directly to the net (many hardware firewalls run linux), but even then it should of preference be a dedicated firewall box. Anyone connecting a windows PC to the net, by dial-up or broadband, without using a NAT firewall-router is acting out of ignorance (either their own ignorance, or their ISP's ignorance).