Pixel wrote:
> maybe a solution would be a linux/webmin/??? function that would open sshd?
As installed, a 'workstation' presently does not install those common
servers for external clients, like ftp, telnet, ssh, and so on ...
There will be a significant number of Mandrake installations on
standalone machines that use residential cable modems for internet
connection. The cable vendors are adamant that servers are not
permitted and conduct regular port scans to enforce that. By your
contract, if discovered, you risk summary disconnection. The present
'workstation' definition is needed to support these installations. I
suspect the auth port must be left open, and is not checked by the
cable service vendor, otherwise no IRC chat, etc.
When such an installation also has a LAN, thus becoming a gateway
machine, these servers are now required for use by peer LAN machines
clients. In this case, the Mandrake install should no longer be a
'workstation' but a 'gateway' and the installer should set up
masquerading and put up a firewall on the cable modem interface that
blocks all attempts to TCP connect or to access those server ports.
Then there are remote workstations which do not need peer access, are
connected to a server, and need a read/write remote administration
facility. They need to be called something else, or could be a
'workstation' install, followed by a new 'network-activate'
free-standing install product, which would have to be run physically
from the workstation, but only once.
FWIW, that's how I see it...
--
Regards,
Ron. [AU]
