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<TITLE>RE: [maemo-developers] Re: kernel modules</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>On Jan 13th, Zoran Kolic wrote:<BR>
> Why all of people in nokia opose to firewall? You put it on the box.<BR>
> Lets make it fully functional, please.<BR>
<BR>
Because it doesn't make any sense. Even if you are using outbound<BR>
services, that doesn't magically open a hole in your machine that<BR>
other people can access, because there's nothing listening.<BR>
<BR>
If you install extra services that listen on ports on public<BR>
interfaces: a) those should be fixed, and b) if they must be open,<BR>
then a firewall would be useful to _restrict_ access.<BR>
<BR>
However, short of that, then there's no point. If there are no<BR>
open ports (via listening services), then there is nothing for a<BR>
firewall to protect, period. It would be like erecting an enormous<BR>
flood barrier in the middle of the Australian desert, or putting<BR>
traffic lights in the middle of a large park. It just doesn't make<BR>
sense, full stop.<BR>
<BR>
This is exactly the same approach that Ubuntu (used by tens of<BR>
millions worldwide) takes, because we decided very early on to ship<BR>
it with zero open ports. Therefore, there was no point in having a<BR>
firewall, because there was _nothing to protect_.<BR>
<BR>
This is the exact same situation as with Internet Tablet OS.<BR>
<BR>
Cheers,<BR>
Daniel</FONT>
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