this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Hi. I wanted to know if it's needed to install a firewall on a linux desktop/laptop. Why yes or why no?

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[–] GustavoM@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why not? It's comically easy to set up one.

[–] Dirk@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It’s also comically useless to have a desktop firewall application installed when you’re already behind some sort of firewall solution like a router not forwarding most incoming traffic.

There's incoming and then there's outgoing traffic. Software firewalls can forbid processes that may be advertised as "offline only" from reaching out; typically a hardware firewall doesn't care about this kind of thing.

[–] wmassingham@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

That's fine right up until something on your network, even the ISP modem-firewall-router-switch itself, gets compromised.