[OPLINTECH] Providing freeware/software...

[Chad Neeper]

Dan,
You're right. IPCop was forked from SmoothWall GPL 0.9.9 in 2001. While 
I've never used Smoothwall, I understand that the two codebases have 
diverged considerably and are now two very different products. IPCop 
still shares some of the original Smoothwall code, although it is being 
phased out more and more with each new release. IPCop is 100% GPL (free) 
and is community supported. Smoothwall (a for-profit company) does 
provide Smoothwall Express as free and a more robust version for a 
price. (I'm sure you know more about Smoothwall than I do...)

I just searched the IPCop newsgroups for comparisons between the two and 
saw a comment made that IPCop provides the features that the commercial 
(not Express) version of Smoothwall provides for a fee. The author went 
on to say that for the features that are not part of the main code base, 
an add-on is usually available that provides the feature. No-one 
disputed the claim. (Again, though...this was on an IPCop newsgroup, so 
expect some bias.)

Just like you, I've been using IPCop for quite some time (four or five 
years) and don't plan to change. It is well supported and does 
everything (and more) that I need from it.

Anyone who is considering a new firewall should look at both Smoothwall 
and IPCop and decide for themselves which one is better in their 
situation. I suspect that you'll find similar features in both. Either 
one will definitely be worth much more than their price!

Chad

-----------------------
Chad Neeper
Senior Systems Engineer

Level 9 Networks
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

--   Full LAN/WAN consulting services   --
-- Specialized in libraries and schools --



Dan Will wrote:
> <snip>
>
> At the libraries I support, I use IPCOP (an open source firewall) that 
> includes squid, an http cache (along with numerous other services). 
> This helps to conserve bandwidth and helps a lot with Microsoft 
> Updates, etc. The setup works very, very well.
>
> </snip>
> Chad,
>    Have you tried Smoothwall Linux. I have often heard IPCop & Smoothwall in the same breath. My understanding
> is that IPCop is a fork from the early Smoothwall tree. I have been using Smoothwall for better than a year and a
> half. Smoothwall 3 was released about 4 months ago and the community (Homebrewers) have a pretty good selection 
> of add-ons for it. Smoothwall 3 (Polar) has SCSI support (and works great with the old Gates Foundation server)
> and throttling capabilities built in now. 
> Just curious about your take (I'm not switching from Smoothwall ;^)
>
>
>   
> -- 
> Dan Will
> Technology Supervisor
> Meigs County District Public Library
> Pomeroy, Ohio 45769
> 740.992.5813
> 740.992.6140 (fax)
> willda at oplin.org <mailto:willda at oplin.org>
>
> The difference between fiction and reality?
> Fiction has to make sense.
> Tom Clancy
>         
>
>
>   
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