Re: Good Red Hat install

[Andrew Hecox <ahecox () uchicago edu>]

On Monday 12 May 2003 11:35, Matthew Crape wrote:
> Hey all,
>
>     I am trying to create a somewhat 'standard' install that I can use for
> Red Hat. The main purpose for this box would to do scans (i.e. nmap) and
> maybe packet generation to test our firewall. Now I don't have a lot of
> Linux experience, but I want to install the minimal possible. The test
> machine that I am using is an old p 233Mhz - so in other words the first
> thing gone is the gui. Can anyone point me to some HOWTO or something like
> that? Thanks

Along the lines of some earlier responses I'd recommend Slackware over Red 
Hat, but with a few caveates.

Slackware is a much more command line oriented distro and the docs you'll read 
are going to be oriented toward that aspect.  I run Slackware at work and Red 
Hat at home and actually enjoy the Slackware experience much more but it can 
take a lot of configuration.  For example, X isn't configured by the 
Slackware installer (which works great for you) and don't expect to find 
anything equivocal to the Red Hat up2date auto-update program.

What makes Slackware a great option (IMHO) is that 1) the included 
documentation is top notch and 2) it's very POSIX compliant, which is to say, 
if you learn how to do it on Slackware, you should be able to do the same 
things in Red Hat, Debian, BSD, or Solaris.  Learn it on Red Hat and it may 
or may not work anywhere else.

The Caveates, however, are worth mentioning.  First, by default, Slackware is 
isn't any more secure other distribution (running httpd, rpc, cups, lpd, 
ftpd).  Second, there's no friendly application for configuring a firewall, 
so you'll have to learn how to use iptables or something else if you want to 
really secure the system.  Finally, the user community can be very helpful, 
but if you haven't rtfm'd, googled, and put some thought into your problem, 
you aren't going to get a nice response.

Sounds like a fun project for you no matter which way you go ...

-cheers!

Andrew



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