Hi Ubuntu Community:
I hope this is the place to ask stupid questions!
Since it seems that everybody is hacking everybody else these days, I wondered whether I need a firewall.
The purpose of this email is to find out whether I do, and to learn about what I should take into consideration when setting up Firestarter or gufw.
I'm just an old geezer, so I'm asking the community of smart young folks who know the answers. However, I definately want the "old Ubuntu" guns to weigh in, if they want!
Currently, I've got only 2 machines on my home network, both connected to my home's router.
The first is an "Ubuntu Machine" that does many tasks, including sending receiving email thru T-bird, and also as a MythTV frontend and backend. This machine holds the "family jewels," like
- documentation of scraps of communication with the ubuntu forums that I couldn't live without, and
- letters from Aunt Harriet. I'd just die if I lost those.
All of those treasures are backed up every week to 2 other hard drives.
The second machine is a 6 year old iBook (ugh!), that occasionally connects with the "ubuntu machine" to access recorded music, and other stuff.
In 2 months, I will add a third machine to my network. It will be a Mythbuntu HTPC that will serve almost exclusively as a frontend to play TV programs stored on the first "ubuntu machine" described here. My guess is that there will be some sort of "port usage" on the Ubuntu machine when I do that. The third Mythbuntu HTPC will not have a hard drive, just a mobo with processor and memory, mythbuntu loaded on an adequately sized SSD, and a wired connection to our home's router.
I think that there could be some "port usage" from the 2nd and third machine on my "ubuntu machine." For example, the Myth backend on my "Ubuntu machine" has 2 ports that are specified in its MythTV backend configuration.
However, that's just a guess, because when people from my generation think about "ports," they think about
- Barcelona,
- Murmansk,
- the famous port of Savanah, GA; and
- a sweet desert wine that people from my generation drink right after dinner.
So, my questions to the forum are:
- "Do I need a firewall to protect the family jewels?", and
- "How should I take into account the various ways my iBook and third computer (Mythbunt frontend) in setting up Firestarter or fugw?"
Sorry about my ignorance. I'm just an old man with not very much hair left.
Thank you!
Old Jimma from the Old Country
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