OK Freeze just as the first order of business when you buy a new house is to get the keys, the first thing one wants to do in a new virtual house is get the keys also.
Reminder to self-professed "gurus":: I love the power and flexibility of command line as much as anyone with two caveats - 1) I'm trying to help someone get setup and see the value of a manual vs/ automatic system. If they like it they will become motivated to learn more at their own pace. It is not my intention to either massage my ego or drag someone into any so-called "correct way, so my answers/help here may blend CLI with GUI work, often leaning toward GUI because that's what most people in this thread, and the ones most importantly here, can relate to. 2) It's still true that a picture is worth 1000 words - so GUI haters can bugger off. So specifically, Freeze, I'd rather offend your sensibilities by being too simple than appear 1337 but leave you confuzzled.
OK, disclaimer now in place, we proceed. There are 3 GUI apps in KDE that are immediately helpful to get a "big picture" idea of what's going on - 3 in addition to ControlCenter and KInfoCenter already mentioned. They are as follows:
1) KSysGuard - very similar to windoze "taskmanager" monitoring running processes (and able to kill them) and system resource usage/performance
2)KPackage - overview of installed packages complete with list of associated files and
their locations can also handle installing/uninstalling Slackware (and other) packages and even will uninstall duplications or version overlaps
without removing any needed libraries from the earlier version
3)kfmclient - the local version of Konqueror as a file/resource/swiss army knife system manager and I recommend you make both user and SuperUser readily available (note: use it enough and it will gain a near permanent location as preferred app on top of your main "K" menu). In file manager mode, kfmclient, especially in Slackware as it is custom tweaked for it, the access and power is nothing short of stunning. Until you become familiar with the more powerful command line search functions, the lowly file finder is of considerable help, especially since relocating by "new and improved" distros is the first step toward "proprietrianism" so you will need to see where things are properly located and be able to edit/run/view them on-the-spot. It does that and more.
OK Shields - IIRC we got started on the specifics because Alexander stated that building packages from scratch was a recursive pita and not worth the effort. Aside from all the options available during builds which pre-compiled packages have decided for you (or against you), I wanted to showcase how easy it is to build from scratch when one has a properly designed and executed system setup for development and "shields" is a perfect lesson.
Download "GuardDog" here using the link at the bottom for "sources mirror":
Guarddog Download - Softpedia
In your $Home directory unpack it.
This is best done with command line, but in case you, or anyone else reading this, are unfamiliar it is a breeze in kfmclient. Just rt-clk and select "extract here" since source tars have the subdirectory coded in. You can watch as it is created.
Go to that subdirectory and read "README" and especially "INSTALL" so you know what is needed and expected.
Then open a user terminal and "cd ./ guard..." just type that much and strike the "Tab" key and if all is well location and command wise, linux will fill in the rest, so hit "Enter"
Once in the "guarddog-version-foo" directory just type the following (w/o quotes)
"./configure"
"make"
"su"
"make install"
The compile is done. No extra parameters. No worrying about dependencies since they are already in there. Wham! Bam! Top O the mornin to ye.
All you need to do now is configure how you want the app to run and activate it.
I'd suggest running "kdesu guarddog" from terminal but you can also rt-clk on the desktop and "Create New>Link to Application" and type the command in "application>command" and you have a clickable icon on your desktop.
The setup defaults to UltraParanoid and shuts down everything but the config to open up what you want or need couldn't be simpler. It guides you right in the GUI config as well as having great docs, great help files, and an online FAQ. You should read some but you'll see that GuardDog barely needs it. Just go to the "protocol" tab and see that there are only 3 possible choices blocked, permitted, and rejected.
Rule of thumb uncheck only those you know you need or until your online service resumes - Super Secure! The Shields Up site ran for over an hour, could only resolve the first 543 ports (all Stealthed but one which was closed)
OK last step to engage shields
From root terminal type
"ln -s /etc/rc.firewall /etc/rc.d/rc.firewall"
because Slackware keeps virtually all boot scripts in that one "etc/rc.d" directory making it easy to fix, say, ethernet module loading, network connections, wireless config and on and on.
That's everything except one of the very rare times you should reboot so that firewall loads before networking starts. Done and done!
more on your nic soon
