It depends on how your Linux host at home is connected to the Internet. To
be able to telnet (or ssh; see below) in, it needs to have a continuous
connection -- a cable modem, DSL, etc. By contrast, if it uses a demand
method like dial-up PPP, you won't be able simply to telnet (or ssh) in
because the route to your home host won't routinely be open.
Assuming the connection is continuous, telnet is the easiest -- not
necessarily the best; I'll get back to that -- way to do remote access. The
need to enter a userid and password provides some security, and using tcpd's
facility to restrict access to specified IP addresses will increase your
security. Consult either "man hosts.deny" or "man 5 hosts_access" (depends
on your distribution or version) for the details on how to use tcpd's access
control features.
Be aware that many people consider telnet to be inherently insecure, in that
it requires that your password be sent over the Internet in unencrypted
form. This is especially a problem if you need to do remote access as root,
and it creates some vulnerability even if you only access as an unpriveleged
user. Many people favor running ssh (Secure SHell), wiich encrypts the
connections and protects passwords. Due to US exportrestrictions, standard
Linux distributions don't include the ssh package on their CDs, and you
usually have to find the version appropriate to your distribution on a
server outside the US. You'll also need a Win98 ssh client; I'm told there
are free ones around, but I don't know Win98 as well as Linux so can't point
to specifics.
If the connection is not continuous, you need to find some way either to
open it on demand or force it to be continuous. Without knowing more about
how you connect now, I can't begin to comment intelligently on what you
might find practical.
At 11:15 AM 9/2/99 -0600, Keith Robinson wrote:
>what is the simplest newbie-friendly way to access my linux box at
>home from a win98 machine at work. can anyone recommend a starting
>place or documentation? I am assuming I want to telnet but can't
>find where to start.
>
>currently I have all inet daemons turned off. I want to be set up
>so I can do work on my linux machine remotely but be sure others can
>not. many thanks,
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, CA 94303-3603 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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