Re: [tlug] Is having no "iptables" bad?

[Dave M G <martin@example.com>]

Botond,

Thank you for replying.

I am sure that what I am after may sound confusing. That is because I am 
confused, and I apologize for creating any excess discussion that 
complicates the issues.

What follows might be a bit wordy, but I hope to clear up any confusion 
I may have caused.

Please keep in mind that I have limited understanding, and I am simply 
doing the best I can to both learn the right things and execute on them.

With that in mind, any assertion I make about what I intend to do next 
is suspect and shouldn't be taken in the sense that I have absolutely 
made up my mind with resolution.

If someone on this list (and I'm not saying you did, but it has 
happened) asks me "Why would you want to do it that way?", or says 
"that's not the right way!", then they are treading into obvious ground 
that really doesn't need mentioning. Of course I don't know what I'm 
doing, and of course I'm not doing it the right way. Otherwise, I 
wouldn't be hounding the helpful experts on this list for assistance.

So, let's get on track. My goal is a stable enough kernel so that I can 
use my peripherals and applications. Admittedly, some of my peripherals 
and applications are exotic for the Linux environment, like my TV card 
tuner (IVTV).

But ultimately, the number of peripherals and applications I want to use 
is finite. I believe I can get to a point where they will all be 
working. When i get there, I will have no desire to keep upgrading or 
being near the "bleeding edge". In another thread, someone (Josh, I 
think), suggested that I not use Ubuntu's automatic update feature, just 
keep a stable box and never upgrade unless there was a really desired 
feature. I think I'll go for that plan.

So, the *only* reason I upgraded my kernel was because my Palm Pilot, 
which is actually quite an important device for me, wasn't connecting. 
All indications were that the Ubuntu 2.6.15 kernel was to blame. 
Upgrading to 2.6.17 has solved it, and I have my Palm Pilot working. I 
also have IVTV working again. Good stuff.

Now the kernel upgrade has caused me to lose iptables, and just now I've 
discovered that my SD card reader is also now not accessible. I don't 
think these are particularly difficult issues, just a side effect of me 
not really knowing too much about kernel upgrading. I had no idea, for 
example, that iptables would not be automatically included. I had never 
heard of an iptable before.

In summary, what I'm after in this whole kernel upgrade experience is to 
get back everything that was working before (iptables, SD card reader, 
maybe others will become apparent soon), keep the stuff that is working 
as a result of the upgrade (mainly the Palm Pilot), and then go on to 
see if I can clean up the stuff that hasn't worked since installing 
Linux ( at this point, just the printer, I think).

Then stop fiddling with Linux.

Just for clarity, I don't really need to tweak the kernel for absolute 
maximum performance. I'm very happy with the performance of my machine. 
I don't mind having modules for things I'm not using, and I don't need 
to ensure I have every module for everything, "just in case". I'll go 
with the defaults except in cases where I know for sure I need to change it.

I hope that clarifies things a bit, so that someone, anyone, can advise 
how I can go from where I am now (kernel which has support for my Palm - 
yay!) to where I need to go (kernel that has all the stuff I took for 
granted that I would have).

Please let me know if any part of this needs clarification in order to 
create the best body of advice.

Also, thank you for the clarifications about some of the commands I was 
using for making modules.

--
Dave M G