May I pick the brains of the network and CUPS experts of the group? I've just set up a network for our two PCs at home. Plugged into the switch are our DSL modem (192.168.7.1), my PC (192.168.7.2) and She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed's PC (192.168.7.3). We're both running dual-boot systems with RH 7.3 and WinXP (mine)/Win98 (hers), but we're almost completely weaned from Windows. We're both using Galeon and I'm using Evolution (she has to use Web Mail so can't use Evolution); no problem with Internet access. From either PC I can ping the other, but I can't telnet (get 'connection refused'). I assume that's because of ipchains (hers) and iptables (mine).
I've got an Epson inkjet on /dev/usb/lp0 and she's got a LaserJet (parallel) on /dev/lp0. I'd like to be able to access either printer from either computer. Both machines use CUPS. CUPS is supposed to be able to find printers on the network but that hasn't been my experience to date. Because of the firewalls, perhaps? On my machine, I tried installling the LaserJet and giving it a name on the network but the test page never got to it. I assume I've got to, firstly, reconfigure the firewalls to allow computers on the network to access one another. Since our DSL modem is just another IP address on our network, if I don't keep blocking access, is there a danger that someone could hijack the DSL modem and use it to hack into our network? I've read and reread the RH 7.3 Bible regarding ipchains and iptables but am not yet confident I can modify the firewall appropriately without creating vulnerabilities. (I let the RH installer set up ipchains, and I used Firestarter to set up iptables.) The Linux man at the shop where I got the networking hardware suggested that the modem itself was an adequate firewall and that I didn't need to worry about ipchains or iptables, but I'm not convinced. (The modem manual does not help. Nokia no longer support the Ni500 DSL modem, and whatever tech support is available comes through a 0-900 number at a couple of dollars a minute.) Then, assuming I'm able to configure access from one PC to the other, what exactly do I call the printer on the remote PC when I'm setting it up on CUPS? There seem to be all sorts of different ways of describing a remote printer. I know the first rule is to RTFM, but I find I'm R-ing a lot of FMs and not accomplishing FA. Thank you in advance for any help. =====Andrew
