Creating a low-power machine

[Rob Perkins]

Here it is:
In IE ... Tools, Internet Options, Connections, lan settings ..
Check .... Use a Proxy ..... then Advanced
Check .. at top type in Dummy Proxy
Check .. use for all

Not the point. It's more than just a net nanny blocker. It's also going
to be my main firewall and router for the home network. I need something
I can *control*, not some netgear/linksys/dlink thing.

Plus, y'know, I need an excuse to play with Linux...

Rob

 

[johns]

Take up gaming. Beats the crap out of trying to keep
Linux running

johns

 

[Harold Stevens]

In <[email protected]> Rob Perkins:

[Snip...]

Plus, y'know, I need an excuse to play with Linux...

Better clear this entire concept with the wife, first...

 

[Arno Wagner]

Arno Wagner wrote:

Thanks, Arno, I think that's precisely what I'm going for.

Do you know of good firewall softwares which can sit on debian stable,
or the linux which comes with the VIA board, and one of those master
seed lists I've seen around, for white/blacklisting etc?

Sorry, no. I just use netfilter to block stuff, but nothing
content oriented or dynamic. BTW, no software comes with the
VIA board. You have to install it yourself.

Arno

 

[Arno Wagner]

Thanks, Arno, I think that's precisely what I'm going for.

Do you know of good firewall softwares which can sit on debian stable, or
the linux which comes with the VIA board, and one of those master seed
lists I've seen around, for white/blacklisting etc?

Rob

[/QUOTE]

Don't know anything about Debian but Fedora Core 5 installs a firewall as
part of the standard install.

Actually, the standard packet filter is part of the kernel. Only the
admin tools need to be installed.

That's the norm for all of the complete
distros like FC, Mandriva, SUSE. If you want to use a Debian based distro
you might want to use Ubuntu. They do a better job of keeping Ubuntu up to
date and it's probably a little more user friendly then straight Debian.

Depending on what you want, I agree. However debian stable is a
good distro to use in a headless machine. Don't know how well
Ubuntu does headless.

As long as you are installing Linux on a server you should also consider
putting it on your daughters machine so you can have the piece of mind of
knowing that if a virus does slip though your filtering server it won't do
any harm. OpenOffice, Evolution, Firefox, Mplayer and GAIM should give her
everything she needs, with the exception of games, and you won't have to
waste your time cleaning viruses off of her machine.

I also agree to this.

Arno

 

[CBFalconer]

Why don't you just do an "allow list" to bypass a dummy
proxy in IE ? Just put it on your daughters login. That list

To start with, the first step to safety is to eliminate IE. That
is sometimes hard to do, so the next best thing is to have the
firewall reject any external communications with IE. Then install
a safer browser, such as Firefox from mozilla.org.

This assumes the children are using winblows machines in the first
place. If not, the festering IE sore is already healed.

--
"If you want to post a followup via groups.google.com, don't use
the broken "Reply" link at the bottom of the article. Click on
"show options" at the top of the article, then click on the
"Reply" at the bottom of the article headers." - Keith Thompson
More details at: <http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/>
Also see <http://www.safalra.com/special/googlegroupsreply/>

 

[Mark South]

If OEMs were allowed to modify Windows, to weld whatever they wanted
into the operating system instead of having to accept whatever
Microsoft's wants welded into the operating system, personal
computers geared for children might be one of the best results. Good
luck.

If you aren't stuck to Windows, then there are dozens of operating systems
that you can modify to your heart's content.

Some well-known people are promoting the idea of building PCs specifically
for children. See:

http://www.laptop.org/

 

[Mark South]

Yeah, I noticed that. I take your point about old laptops, but I kind of
also wanted this to be a building project. A couple of my kids like
watching me put PC's together.

Take a look at the parts listed at

http://damnsmalllinux.org/store/

Both Damn Small Linux (link above) and Puppy Linux
(http://www.puppyos.com) will run happily off a smallish flash memory, or
boot off a CD and run entirely in RAM. Only needs about 128 Mb or so,
depending on apps you want.

(Not an endorsement, not a customer, no connection, void where prohibited
by liquor licensing laws etc.)

 

[Rob Perkins]

Take up gaming. Beats the crap out of trying to keep
Linux running

I have a lev 60 rogue and a lev 59 priest on Detheroc, World of Warcraft.

Rob

 

[John Doe]

I'm not stuck on Windows, I don't even promote Windows. However, as
an unusually active personal computer user, I benefit from all of
the applications Windows supports and all of the hardware which
comes with drivers written for Windows.

Path: newssvr12.news.prodigy.com!newsdbm05.news.prodigy.com!newsmst01b.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.com!newscon02.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.net!newsfeed.cwix.com!newsfeed.vmunix.org!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newsfeed.cw.net!cw.net!news-FFM2.ecrc.de!news.net.uni-c.dk!dotsrc.org!news.dotsrc.org!not-for-mail
From: Mark South <mark.south null.invalid>
Organization: Southern Enterprises
Subject: Re: Creating a low-power machine
Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 13:57:51 +0200
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If OEMs were allowed to modify Windows, to weld whatever they wanted
into the operating system instead of having to accept whatever
Microsoft's wants welded into the operating system, personal
computers geared for children might be one of the best results. Good
luck.

If you aren't stuck to Windows, then there are dozens of operating systems
that you can modify to your heart's content.

Some well-known people are promoting the idea of building PCs specifically
for children. See:

http://www.laptop.org/

--
mark south; echo znexfbhgu2000 lnubb.pb.hx|tr a-z n-za-m
"I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic
globule. Consequently, my family pride is something inconceivable."
-- Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado

 

[Rob Perkins]

Take a look at the parts listed at

http://damnsmalllinux.org/store/

Well, I bought an EPIA ML6000 board as a base for my device, so we'll go
from there. I was intrigued by the USB pen thing. Is there a download
for that, as a pen image (I already have several USB flash devices)

Rob

 

[Rob Perkins]

I'm not stuck on Windows, I don't even promote Windows. However, as
an unusually active personal computer user, I benefit from all of
the applications Windows supports and all of the hardware which
comes with drivers written for Windows.

Let me offer, too, (with the hope that it doesn't alienate the Smart
People here) that I simply don't care about Windows enough to be swayed
by haughty opinions against it.

Rob

 

[Bob Eager]

Let me offer, too, (with the hope that it doesn't alienate the Smart
People here) that I simply don't care about Windows enough to be swayed
by haughty opinions against it.

The problem with this thread is that it probably shouldn't have been
posted to a non hardware newsgroup...

http://quotes.fivegeeks.net/QUOTES-CS-05.html#q123aaa76

 

[gfretwell]

The problem with this thread is that it probably shouldn't have been
posted to a non hardware newsgroup...

Looks like a pretty "Miscellaneous" topic to me. It has touched on
hardware, software, security and filters, along with the normal thread
drift we always see.

 

[Bob Eager]

Looks like a pretty "Miscellaneous" topic to me. It has touched on
hardware, software, security and filters, along with the normal thread
drift we always see.

I agree. But that's probably more a result of the cross-posting!

 

[Mark South]

Well, I bought an EPIA ML6000 board as a base for my device, so we'll go
from there. I was intrigued by the USB pen thing. Is there a download
for that, as a pen image (I already have several USB flash devices)

Typically, one downloads the CD iso image, burns it to a CD-RW ('cos the
next time you want it there'll be a newer version and boots that.
Then the running live system has utilities to make a USB image. I have
put DSL on a USB key and a USB ZIP drive, while Puppy has installer
entries in the menu. Puppy 2-alpha has a universal installer that does
the same stuff. It's falling-off-a-log easy.

 

[JAD]

Warning Troll post ahead.............;^)










creating a low power machine......put an AMD in it? Use a 'new' mac?

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

Yeah, I noticed that. I take your point about old laptops, but I kind of
also wanted this to be a building project. A couple of my kids like
watching me put PC's together.

I'd say scrounge for junkers. People are throwing away good ones. I
have a machine with a via PM266 something-or-other board, and it's
actually a pretty decent board if you don't care about high
performance. It's stable and easy to work with. You should be able
to get one cheap or free nowadays. It takes a celeron or P4 chip, has
integrated sound/gfx, and it's tiny.

Charlie

 

[Spajky]

I'd like to build a

-- low-power
-- fanless (heatsinks, prefer to avoid water cooling)

no need for fanless (& not a goo idea too, run fans on 5V)

Any ideas?

See my site how I did it & have absolutelly silent machine with 7
(seven) fans running, certain schematics are under Electro section ..