Open Source Personal Firewall?

[Breno Jacinto <breno () gamebox net>]

Hello fellows,

  I've been looking for an OSS Personal Firewall (PF) but googling for one
  had no results. Of course we have great options for real firewalls (pf
  is pretty decent), but I'm looking for a solution for the grandma-like user. Any take? 

  What about the commercial ones, such as Zonealarm, BlackIce etc.. any
  good recommendations (as well as bad ones)?

  After reading the 'Personal Firewall FAQ' (www.fefe.de/pffaq), which
  is way radical; a quote:

  "You can't improve security of an untrusted system by installing another untrustworthy piece of software. 
  You don't have the source code for the operating system or for the new piece of software, so it is impossible to 
  verify that it does anything at all, let alone improve security. In the contrary, adding software increases the 
  system's complexity, increasing the probabilty for undetected bugs and possible new security problems.

  A firewall is a computer security concept, not a piece of software. Vendors selling you a piece of software (or 
  even a piece of hardware) under the label "firewall" are defrauding you."

  Is there any sense on the argument above? I mean, people barely use
  any security layer in their systems, I believe a PF would be better
  than nothing (well it could stop stupid things such as Blaster from
  happenning). 

  
cheers,
  
// Breno Jacinto
// breno () freeunix com br
// Key fingerprint = A5C3 3B22 140D C973 6AC6  2D62 2318 B8FA 15F9 D3FC
// Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the
// ark; professionals built the Titanic. -- Anonymous

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