Linux vs Windows a real life comparison

[toadlife]

Can't iptables do it? Or does it only work for the local network?
http://www.cyberciti.biz/nixcraft/vivek/blogger/2005/12/iptables-mac-address-filtering.php

iptables can filter by MAC, but it's useless for traffic that comes from outside of the local network, because the MAC addresses are only held by switches to map physical data ports to ip addresses. Computers and routers also hold MAC>IP translation caches, but this is only to determine if the data they are sending is detined for the local network, and in the case of routers, to decide which route is the best for a packet. Computers and routers find out MAC addresses by sending out ARP requests on the network. ARP requests are broadcasts (every machine on the local recieves the request), and therefore are not routed. So when a packet comes in from an outside network, iptables can send out an arp request asking for the MAC address of the souce IP, but it will get no answer because the source machine that sent the packet is not on the local network.

[toadlife]

I really son't see the beef you guys have with the Windows firewall. It was meant for ONE purpose - to stop WORMS from coming in. Right now, it does that job perfectly. It allows you to block IP addresses, and subnets, open ports and specificy which ,machines or subnet have access to those ports and also does incoming application based filtering. No, it doesn't have all the features of Iptrables, or pf, or ipfw, but these features are avaiable for free via third party apps and you know as well as I do that Microsoft including a full featured firewall with Windows would stir up a load of Anti-trust crap.

[piratePenguin]

I really son't see the beef you guys have with the Windows firewall. It was meant for ONE purpose - to stop WORMS from coming in. Right now, it does that job perfectly. It allows you to block IP addresses, and subnets, open ports and specificy which ,machines or subnet have access to those ports and also does incoming application based filtering. No, it doesn't have all the features of Iptrables, or pf, or ipfw, but these features are avaiable for free via third party apps and you know as well as I do that Microsoft including a full featured firewall with Windows would stir up a load of Anti-trust crap.

Who cares what Microsoft wanted to achieve with the Windows firewall, what matters is that it sucks, or at least that it's no iptables (whether Microsoft wanted something comparable to iptables or not).
If Microsoft lands in another anti-trust trial for including something that is actually useful, tough shit for them.

I guess in the next anti-trust trial they can bitch about being so kind as to not including a decent firewall in Windows.

[H_TeXMeX_H]

I really son't see the beef you guys have with the Windows firewall. It was meant for ONE purpose - to stop WORMS from coming in. Right now, it does that job perfectly. It allows you to block IP addresses, and subnets, open ports and specificy which ,machines or subnet have access to those ports and also does incoming application based filtering. No, it doesn't have all the features of Iptrables, or pf, or ipfw, but these features are avaiable for free via third party apps and you know as well as I do that Microsoft including a full featured firewall with Windows would stir up a load of Anti-trust crap.

so a firewall is defined as "something that stops worms" ? or does it need a little more than that in order to be called a 'firewall' ? rather than a 'wormstopper' ? Oh and I can testify that it stops about as many worms as it can ... but most of them still get though ... at least that's what other anti-virus programs indicated

[toadlife]

so a firewall is defined as "something that stops worms" ? or does it need a little more than that in order to be called a 'firewall' ? rather than a 'wormstopper' ?

A firewall is a device or software that processes and takes action on IP packets after checking them against a list of rules.

Oh and I can testify that it stops about as many worms as it can ... but most of them still get though ... at least that's what other anti-virus programs indicated

And I can testify that you are one of the most ignorant, fanboiish people  (that's saying a lot) on this forum...at least that's what your posts have indicated.:thumbup:

[_kill__bill]

IGNORING ALL PREVIOUS POSTS
 
Windows has inbuilt design flaws for a reason: the OS tries to be backward-compatible to DOS 6.0. Not a good excuse. DOS was a massive rush job, and no amount of upgrading will fix that. But on top of that, they insist on violating both standards and common sense, and do almost nothing against virii, worms and spam. (OpenBSD has pf, spamd and W|X to handle that)
 
If Microshit actually cared about security, they would redesign the OS from scratch, rewrite most of the emulation support to eliminate most I/O problems, and include a good firewall, a virus scanner, and a good spamblocker, just like they include IE and Outlook.
 
Speaking of Outlook, I set it to block all foreign TLDs, all foreign charsets, and all addresses not in my whitelist AND I'M STILL GETTING 15 SPAMS AN HOUR!!!! WTHFSEFFREFQW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 
 
Although I don't have any GNU/Linux experience, I use OpenBSD, which is a lot less user-friendly, and is functionally about the same. Give or take. I use XP only for games (I need my Halo, even if its owned by the enemy), music (OpenBSD's SW Synth sucks), and email (PeoplePC is gay and only works on Winshit, apparently. I called and asked, and I think they put me on speakerphone so the whole company could laugh at me :fu: :mad: :o :nothappy: )

[H_TeXMeX_H]

A firewall is a device or software that processes and takes action on IP packets after checking them against a list of rules.



And I can testify that you are one of the most ignorant, fanboiish people (that's saying a lot) on this forum...at least that's what your posts have indicated.:thumbup:

Well ... that may be your opinion of me ... at least I never flamed anyone ... unlike you ... what you think of me is beside the point ...

Here is a wiki on firewalls ... I'm pretty sure that not only does Winblow$ firewall not fit into any of the firewall criteria ... it also does a very bad job at it. Both Norton and McAfee found worms on my computer that Winblow$ firewall missed ... how do you explain that ? ... I know what you will say ... that I didn't configure it properly ... well, you know, maybe it should come with a long and complicated manual that I should waste my time reading just to begin to learn how to use the user-friendly piece of shit called M$ Winblow$ firewall. Not to mention that the firewall can be disabled by hackers remotely with relative ease

[piratePenguin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Firewall

[H_TeXMeX_H]

Ahhhh ... here is a nice video I found some time ago ... I posted it in another post here ... it fits better here though (Google video) (I apologize for the low quality ... it ain't my video ... it's more readable if you download it ... there is a download button in the upper right corner)

How to cheat the perfect Winblow$ "firewall"

Backdoor ?

it is clear that Winblow$ firewall is pretty much worthless security wise.

[Orethrius]

[offtopic]What the hell codec do they use over at GV, anyway?  I ran the initial file through a text editor, it's a simple redirect; I ran the video file past a hex editor, and the first thing I saw that looked familiar was "RIFF" followed by "Divx" at some point near the beginning.  However, my media players refused to identify it as Divx.  Weirdness.[/offtopic]

[toadlife]

How to cheat the perfect Winblow$ "firewall"

That's nice except you need admin rights to do whatever (I can't tell exactly what) that grainy video shows. If you have admin rights, why not just add an execption or turn the firewall off?

Backdoor ?

Again, you show your ignorance. That is no a "backdoor", it's an exeception that was created by an program that was installed with admin rights.

 

it is clear that Winblow$ firewall is pretty much worthless security wise.

Compared to what...iptables? Give me root access to your box and we'll see just how well iptables protects your machine.

[toadlife]

Well ... that may be your opinion of me ... at least I never flamed anyone ... unlike you ... what you think of me is beside the point ...

My appologies for flaming, but my opinion of you has certainly not changed, especially after the last two posts you've made in this thread. You seem to be very gullable (falling for that "backdoor" article) and lack the basic networking knowledge needed to even understand that the wiki you linked to actually describes exactly what the Windows firewall does.

Here is a wiki on firewalls ... I'm pretty sure that not only does Winblow$ firewall not fit into any of the firewall criteria ..

As I said that wiki describes what the windows firewall does quite nicely. From the wiki....[indent]In computing, a firewall is a piece of hardware and/or software which functions in a networked environment to prevent some communications forbidden by the security policy...
[/indent]

it also does a very bad job at it. Both Norton and McAfee found worms on my computer that Winblow$ firewall missed ... how do you explain that ?

It's not a firewall's job to find worms, it's job is to filter traffic. Those worms on your system did come into your system on their own through your firewall - you brought them in yourself, either by downloading some software and running it or some exploit. There is no case of anyone discovering how to bypass the windows firewall from outside of the computer.

Not to mention that the firewall can be disabled by hackers remotely with relative ease

Suuuuuure. Care to elaborate on this claim?

[cymon]

If a cracker has root on your box, you've got much bigger stuff to worry about then having an email worm slip through.

[Aloone_Jonez]

The only way you can make a fair comparason is if you access the Internet only using a restricted user account and this applies to both Windows and Linux.

[piratePenguin]

The only way you can make a fair comparason is if you access the Internet only using a restricted user account and this applies to both Windows and Linux.

Compare what, the firewalls? iptables wins, enough said.