A Very happy Camper on FC4

[Paul Howarth]

On Mon, 2006-05-15 at 16:03 -0600, Karl Larsen wrote:
> Les Mikesell wrote:
> > On Mon, 2006-05-15 at 14:07, Karl Larsen wrote:
> >   
> >>>>> With fedora, the big reason to change is that you'll stop getting
> >>>>> security updates for your installed version when the 2nd subsequent
> >>>>> version goes into beta.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>           
> >>>> But I thought that is what the legacy project was for.  I used FC1 until
> >>>> last summer when I was between projects.  I will stay with FC4 until I
> >>>> know I can get a reasonably safe install and the applications I use on a
> >>>> daily basis are in the repositories.
> >>>>
> >>>>         
> >>> Yes, I think you're right, that is what the legacy project is there for.
> >>>
> >>>       
> >>     Well the yum update seemed to have a whole lot of items for FC4, 
> >> like 500 and one upgraded Open Office to version 2.0. It is likely that 
> >> some new thing like a modified Firefox comes over the Internet from 
> >> Firefox direct. And it's no problem at all.
> >>     
> >
> > First, you are picking up all the updates from the FC4 release
> > and second FC4 hasn't been moved to legacy yet. But note that
> > if you add any additional software or newer versions from
> > other sources yourself you have to keep it updated yourself
> > and if any of those RPMs conflict with core versions you
> > may break the ability to update at all.
> >
> >   
> >>     And my idea of old is sure a longer period than the one used by 
> >> Fedora. I will keep FC4 for several years. There is no reason not to 
> >> since it's doing what I want just fine after initial bugs were yummed out.
> >>     
> >
> > It's almost certain that more bugs will be found, including
> > security-related ones.  Being able to stay up to date with
> > fixes is important especially if you are internet-exposed.
> >
> >   
>     Of course I'm Internet exposed but through a DSL modem with a very 
> capable  hardware firewall. I have never been hacked.

How do you know?

A decent firewall protects you from some classes of attack, but not all.
For instance, there might be an exploit that could get your browser to
run arbitrary code if you visit a malicious website. A firewall isn't
going to protect you against that.

This is why security consultants tell you to have "layers" of security
and why it's good sense to keep your system up to date with security
fixes.

Paul.