[lug] Firewall what a flare of experience

[Anders Knudsen]

> >
> > > Here is some food for thought:
> > > Most of the commercial firewall appliances are based on BSD or 
> Linux.  I spoke
> > > with several vendors and this much seems to be fact.
> >
> > Like which ones?  Be specific.  Show your work.
>
>I know for sure that Watchguard was Linux based a number of years ago and
>may be that way now.

We have a Watchguard box at my office. It is running an embedded linux 
kernel, don't know which one tho. Their value add is "proprietary" 
VPN/IPSEC stuff. Not that being proprietary makes it any better. It is a 
fairly maintenance free little bugger, and has ez client setup software, so 
that is a bonus from an admin angle. Still, you could do it all with your 
own linux setup, however, it's all a "time" factor. With the Watchguard, 
it's just about plug and play.

What about Open BSD? From their website: "Three years without a remote hole 
in the default install! Two years without a localhost hole in the default 
install!"
I understand this is a very good, if not better than linux, OS for firewalling.

-Anders.