10 reasons to not to switch to LINUX !!!

 

My eyes caught this nice post on one of my regular visit site , this guy is explaining why one should not switch to LINUX …

1) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… you actually enjoy paying for an operating system that is so mired with bugs and issues that it shouldn’t be even released as an alpha build. What recession?

2) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… change is always scary. Look at Obama, he scares the shit out of me. I voted for him but he always talks about change and change is always scary even if that change will make things better.

3) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… the only thing you use your computer is to play games. I mean people still use computer for anything other than games?

4) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… You love to dedicate one whole day of your week just for scanning purposes. Anti-virus scan – Spyware Scan – Defragmentation scan – Registry Scan & defrag. What Fun!

5) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… You love to pay for Anti-virus/spywares (with yearly subscription renewal) for protection that the OS should provide you in the first place. Even though Windows Defender does a fabulous job, its just not there yet.

6) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… most people use Windows. If most people use windows it must be good!

7) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… you realize that nothing lasts forever. Eventually your windows will succumb to a BSOD, while Linux has its version of kernel panic, you might have to wait couple of years to experience it, if at all.

8) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… you LOVE Internet Explorer and you can only use the latest version of Internet explorer on windows. Imagine going online without IE?

9) You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… you have to be a geek to use Linux and we all know that geeks don’t have girlfriend.

10) Last but not least. You shouldn’t switch to Linux because… you don’t want to be a conformist and do what everyone tells you to do. You want to be unique, which is why you want to use windows. Oh wait…

from linuxhexor …

Njoy …

So Safe Linux ... is not much safe now ???

There seems to be a false sense of security among some Linux users. The number of malicious programs specifically written for GNU/Linux has been on the increase in recent years and in the year of 2005 alone has more than doubled: from 422 to 863. Some security consultants will argue that Linux has fewer viruses/malwares because it is less attractive as a target for having a smaller user base (compare ~90.66% Windows vs ~0.93% Linux). You may call me a traitor but I agree with that assessment. There is no reason why we will not see a rise of malware designed for Linux as it becomes more mainstream among ordinary users.

I’ve heard so many times from beginners “do I need an anti-virus?”, “Linux has no viruses”, “There’s no way a virus could infect a Linux box”. This is the false sense of security that many new Linux users are dealing with today. Most are just starting out as Linux users and have no idea about the risks and safe actions to take. Newbie Linux users tends to feel safe with statements they read about how the Linux OS could never be infected and if so could never be executed because of the way files works under Linux.


Linux does have its share of viruses, trojans and worms but would the Linux infected binaries really need to be exclusively executed by root for a major system apocalypse? Although in most cases the system programs are owned by root and the user is just running the program from a non-privileged account. Some people will argue that for a system wide infection, the infected binary would have to be derived exclusively from root and as a non-privileged user, by running an infected program would only effect the users /home directory and not a system wide infection.

There is a method to infect a system wide Linux OS without the need to become root, this procedure is a commonly known as “Privilege escalation” –

“Privilege escalation is the act of exploiting a bug or design fault in a software application to gain access to resources which normally would have been protected from an application or user. The result is that the application performs actions with more privileges than intended by the application developer or system administrator” (Privilege escalation).

Its not very likely that Linux malwares will ever compare to that of the Windows viruses and even more unlikely that Linux will ever see its share of the same issues with malware as the Windows operating system. If you take into consideration the email-borne viruses that Microsoft has, they are all executable and are in most cases executed by the user, whereas with Linux you would have to save the file make the file executable and manually run the file. Windows XP automatically makes the first named user an administrator, with the power to do anything to the system. Linux on the other hand uses the first named user as the root administrator but does not allow root login on boot-up.

As a Linux user, using the repositories, md5 checksums and using root privileges only when necessary are just a few ways to to guard against an intrusion. SSH is often the first point of entry to a Linux system but it’s not the last line of defense. Using a strong password and anti-virus software should always be common practice for any OS and could potentially limit the risk of a system catastrophe.

Njoy ...

MEWU - Scene 8 ... Change your Identity !!!

When we do "experiments" sometimes are need to hide ... or say more softly , change our MAC address. And for this , Ubuntu has very hand tool, called MAC Changer.

But first some words about MAC address... Media Access Control a.k.a. MAC is a unique identifier used to identify network adapters weather it is a Ethernet or WiFi or any Bluetooth , all networking hardware has unique ID , and with who's help those devices --- and so --- "USER" of that device can be identified. This method is used in very basic security schemes that includes mobile networks too !!!

Well, i don't wanna ask why would you ever think to change your MAC address but i know there are always "reasons" to change it for sometime. There are number of ways to change it ,

one method is ...

go to your termainal and write ,

sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

it will open interface file of network , it should look like ,

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

then simply add a line after these two lines , and it will look like this ,

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
hwaddress ether 01:02:03:04:05:06

where 01:02:03:04:05:06 is a FAKE MAC address...

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

and you will see your "all new" identity.

MEWU - Scene 7 ... IDS for my Network ....

Well , its been an age old question from the days when people started using computers on network ... is my network secure ?? ... ah , i don't think that in this world there is any system that can't be penetrated !! unless there is no way to communicate with system other then mouse and keyboard ,without internet or any network ... hell even without FDD or CDD !!! ... because in many cases when system get jeopardized , by the inside man ( and believe me ,there is no way to protect the system from that mole until information gets stolen ) !!! ... anyways .... as a preventive measure , network admins install grid of network activity sensors , with help of Intrusion Detection System a.k.a. IDS .... basic function of IDS is to detect unauthorized attempt to enter network or other kind of activity that is illegal according to what so ever network policy ... Snort is the most famous personal IDS ,system that is used for network monitoring purpose .... it is also IPS , intrusion prevention system , and it works with other softwares such as BASE, OSSIM to provide visual output with good interface ...

For my trial , i have used SNORT with BASE (for front end )and My-SQL (for storing data in to database for analysis) and APACHE2 server ....





Getting Prepared ......

The first thing I like to do is grab all the dependent packages that I can from Synaptic. From the Desktop go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. Enter your password and select Search.

Search for the following packages and install them:

* Libpcap0.8-dev
* libmysqlclient15-dev
* mysql-client-5.0
* mysql-server-5.0
* bison
* flex
* apache2
* libapache2-mod-php5
* php5-gd
* php5-mysql
* libphp-adodb
* php-pear


Gain Root Privileges ...

From the Desktop go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal and type:

$ sudo -i
$ Then your password.

We need to get one more package here,

# apt-get install libc6-dev g++ gcc


Gathering Resources ...

We want to create a temp directory to download and untar files. I'm going to use edge's structure here. In the terminal window type the following:

# cd /root
# mkdir snorttmp
# cd /root/snorttmp

Let's get snort. The latest version of snort at the time of writing is 2.8.3.

Open a web browser and navigate to http://www.snort.org/dl; right click on the most recent release and copy link location.

In the terminal type:

# wget http://www.snort.org/dl/current/snort-2.8.3.tar.gz

It's time to untar the Snort package and remove the tar file.

# tar -xzvf /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3.tar.gz
# rm /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3.tar.gz


Get Snort Rules ...


Change directories into the new snort-2.8.3 folder.

# cd /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3

Open a web browser and navigate to http://www.snort.org/pub-bin/downloads.cgi.

Scroll down to the "Sourcefire VRT Certified Rules - The Official Snort Rule set (unregistered user release)" section. Right click on the most recent release and copy link location.

If you are a forum member you can get newer rules which are under the "registered user release".

In the terminal type:

# wget http://www.snort.org/pub-bin/downloads.cgi/Download/vrt_pr/snortrules-pr-2.4.tar.gz

Untar the Snort Rules and remove the tar file.

# tar -xzvf /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3/snortrules-pr-2.4.tar.gz
# rm /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3/snortrules-pr-2.4.tar.gz


Getting PCRE ... Perl Compatible Regular Epressions ...


Change directory back into the snorttmp folder.

# cd /root/snorttmp

Open a web browser and go to http://www.pcre.org.

Click on the link for the newest release, right click on the newest tar.gz package and select copy link (at the time of writing this is pcre-7.8).

In the terminal type:

# wget ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/programming/pcre/pcre-7.8.tar.gz

Untar PCRE and remove the tar file.

# tar -xzvf /root/snorttmp/pcre-7.8.tar.gz
# rm /root/snorttmp/pcre-7.8.tar.gz


Getting BASE ... Basic Analysis and Security Engine ...

Change directory back into the snorttmp folder.

# cd /root/snorttmp

Open a web browser and go to http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=103348.

Click on download then right click on the newest tar.gz package and select copy link (at the time of writing this is base-1.4.1).

In the terminal type:

# wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/secureideas/base-1.4.1.tar.gz?modtime=1217804205&big_mirror=0

Untar BASE and remove the tar file.

# tar -xzvf /root/snorttmp/base-1.4.1.tar.gz
# rm /root/snorttmp/base-1.4.1.tar.gz


Getting ADOdb ... a database abstraction library for PHP ...


Change directory back into the snorttmp folder.

# cd /root/snorttmp

Open a web browser and go to http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=42718.

Click on the download link for adodb-php5-only then right click on the adodb505.tgz package and select copy link (adodb505 is the most recent package at the time of writing).

In the terminal type:

# wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/adodb/adodb505.tgz?modtime=1215766049&big_mirror=0

Untar ADOdb and remove the tar file.

# tar -xzvf /root/snorttmp/adodb505.tgz
# rm /root/snorttmp/adodb505.tgz

Do an ls to be sure you have all the packages.

# ls /root/snorttmp

Lets have Some Fun !!

a. PCRE install.

# cd /root/snorttmp/pcre-7.8
Here we will do a make/install

# ./configure
# make
# make install

b. Snort install.

# cd /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3
Here we will do a make/install

# ./configure -enable-dynamicplugin --with-mysql
# make
# make install

We need to create some folders in /etc for snort to function correctly and copy some files over to them.


# mkdir /etc/snort /etc/snort/rules /var/log/snort

Let's move some files.

# cd /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3/rules
# cp * /etc/snort/rules/

Let's get the /etc snort files also.

# cd /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3/etc
# cp * /etc/snort/

One more file.

# cp /usr/local/lib/libpcre.so.0 /usr/lib


Configuring Snort ...

We need to modify the snort.conf file to suite our needs.

Open /etc/snort/snort.conf with your favorite text editor (nano, vi, vim, gedit etc.).

# gedit /etc/snort/snort.conf

Change "var HOME_NET any" to "var HOME_NET 192.168.1.0/24" (your home network may differ from 192.168.1.0)
Change "var EXTERNAL_NET any" to "var EXTERNAL_NET !$HOME_NET" (this is stating everything except HOME_NET is external)
Change "var RULE_PATE ../rules" to "var RULE_PATH /etc/snort/rules"

Scroll down the list to the section with "# output database: log, mysql, user=", remove the "#" from in front of this line.
Leave the "user=root", change the "password=password" to "password=YOUR_PASSWORD", "dbname=snort"
Make note of the username, password, and dbname. You will need this information when we set up the Mysql db.

Save and quit.

Setting UP My-SQL Database ...

Log into the mysql server.

# mysql -u root -p

Sometimes there is no password set so just hit enter.

If you get a failed logon, try the above command again and enter YOUR_PASSWORD.

If there is no password you need to create a password for the root account.

Note: Once you are in mysql the # is now a mysql>

mysql> SET PASSWORD FOR root@localhost=PASSWORD('YOUR_PASSWORD');


Create the snort database.

mysql> create database snort;
mysql> exit

We will use the snort schema for the layout of the database.

# mysql -D snort -u root -p < /root/snorttmp/snort-2.8.3/schemas/create_mysql We need to comment out a few lines in the web rules before we can test snort, I am unsure if this has been fixed in the subscriber version. Open up /etc/snort/rules/web-misc.rules with your favorite text editor. # gedit /etc/snort/rules/web-misc.rules Comment out line's 97, 98, and 452 with a "#" (no quotes).

Testing Snort ...

we need to be sure that our installation works fine ,so we do a test drive of snort ...

In the terminal type:

# snort -c /etc/snort/snort.conf

If everything went well you should see an ascii pig.

To end the test hit ctrl + c.

Setting up BASE and APACHE2 ...

We have already installed both Apache2 and BASE, all we have to do now is move some files and modify a config file.
Create a file called test.php in /var/www/ with your favorite text editor.

# gedit /var/www/test.php

write in it:

Save and close this file

We need to edit /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini file.

# gedit /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

You need to add the following under "Dynamic Extensions".

extension=mysql.so
extension=gd.so

Restart Apache2.

# /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Get the ip address of the machine you are working on.

# ifconfig -a

Open a web browser and go to http://YOUR.IP.ADDRESS/test.php.

If everything went well, you will have PHP information displayed. Moving more files...

We need to move ADOdb into the /var/www directory.

# mv /root/snorttmp/adodb505 /var/www/

Let's make a directory in www and move BASE.

# mkdir /var/www/web
# mv /root/snorttmp/base-1.4.1 /var/www/web/

We need to temporarily enable writing to the base-1.4.1 folder for setup.

# chmod 757 /var/www/web/base-1.4.1

We also need to modify a PHP setup file using your favorite text editor.

# vim /var/www/web/base-1.4.1/setup/setup1.php

Find the line that says "base_header" and change it to "header".

Save and exit.


We want the graphs in base to work so we need to install a few pear extensions.

# pear install Image_Color
# pear install Image_Canvas-alpha
# pear install Image_Graph-alpha



BASE Setup via the web....

Open a web browser and navigate to http://YOUR.IP.ADDRESS/web/base-1.4.1/setup.

Click continue on the first page.


Step 1 of 5: Enter the path to ADODB.
This is /var/www/adodb505.


Step 2 of 5:
Database type = MySQL, Database name = snort, Database Host = localhost, Database username = root, Database Password = YOUR_PASSWORD


Step 3 of 5: If you want to use authentication enter a username and password here.


Step 4 of 5: Click on Create BASE AG.


Step 5 of 5: one step 4 is done at the bottom click on Now continue to step 5.


Bookmark this page.

Change the permissions back on the /var/www/web/base-1.4.1 folder.

# chmod 775 /var/www/web/base-1.4.1


We are DONE !!!

To start Snort in the terminal type:

# snort -c /etc/snort/snort.conf -i eth0 -D

This starts snort using eth0 interface in a daemon mode.

To make sure it is running you can check with the following command:

# ps aux | grep snort

If it's running you will see an entry similar to snort -c /etc/snort/snort.conf -i eth0 -D.



Finally , to see the snort in action , we can run BASE engine , by going that page we are using to run via apache server ...

phewww ... after following brain twisting procedures i was finally able to setup my personal IDS using SNORT ,which took me almost more then one and half hour ... i hope this walkthrough will work for you guys too ...

njoy ....

Top 10 Linux Distros !!!

Well , this is for people like me who want to try some new OSes ... just a comparison of popularity of currently available linux distros .... its from very famous sites which is dedicated only to keep track of all available and working linux distros .. distrowatch

1 .... The number one is undoubtedly ... UBUNTU ....

• Pros: Fixed release cycle and support period; novice-friendly; wealth of documentation, both official and user-contributed
  
• Cons: Some of Ubuntu's own software (e.g. Launchpad, Rosetta) are proprietary; lacks compatibility with Debian
  
• Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages
  
• Available editions: Ubuntu,Kubuntu,Edubuntu & Xubuntu for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; Ubuntu Server edition also for SPARC processors
  
• Suggested Ubuntu-based alternatives: Linux Mint(desktop), Freespire (desktop), gNewSense (free software)
  

2 ... the 2nd is OpenSuSE ... from novell

• Pros: Comprehensive and intuitive configuration tool; large repository of software packages, excellent web site infrastructure and printed documentation
  
• Cons: Novell's patent deal with Microsoft in November 2006 seemingly legitimised Microsoft's intellectual property claims over Linux; its resource-heavy desktop setup and graphical utilities are sometimes seen as "bloated and slow"
  
• Software package management: YaST graphical and command line utility using RPM packages
  
• Available editions: openSuSE for 32-bit (i386), 64-bit (x86_64) and PowerPC (ppc) processors (also a non-installable live DVD edition); suse linux enterprise Desktop/Server for i586, IA64, PowerPC, s390, s390x and x86_64 architectures

3 ... another famous distro is ... fedora

• Pros: Highly innovative; outstanding security features; large number of supported packages; strict adherence to the Free Software philosophy
  
• Cons: Fedora's priorities tend to lean towards enterprise features, rather than desktop usability
  
• Software package management: YUM graphical and command line utility using RPM packages
  
• Available editions: Fedora for 32-bit (i386), 64-bit (x86_64) and PowerPC (ppc) processors; RedHat Enterprise Linux for i386, IA64, PowerPC, s390x and x86_64 architectures; also live CD and live DVD editions
  
• Suggested Fedora-based alternatives: Blag Linux and GNU(desktop, free software),Berry Linux (live CD),Yellow Dog Linux (Apple's PowerPC-based systems)
  
• Suggested Red Hat-based alternatives: CentOS, Scientific Linux, StartCom Enterprise Linux, Lineox

4 ... another famous distro is .. Debian ... on which many other distros are based upon , ubuntu for example

• Pros: Very stable; remarkable quality control; includes over 20,000 software packages; supports more processor architectures than any other Linux distribution
  
• Cons: Conservative - due to its support for many processor architectures, newest technologies are not always included; slow release cycle (one stable release every 1 - 3 years); discussions on developer mailing lists and blogs can be uncultured at times
  
• Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages
  
• Available editions: Installation CD/DVD and live CD images for 11 processor architectures, including all 32-bit and 64-bit processors from Intel, AMD, Power and others
  
• Suggested Debian-based alternatives: MEPIS Linux, Ubuntu, Damn Small Linux, Knoppix , Sidux, Dreamlinux, Elive,Xandros,64 Studio
  

5 ... Mandriva ... huh ?? , never heard before ... but they says its famous !! ..

• Pros: Beginner-friendly, especially the commercial editions; excellent central configuration utility; very good out-of-the-box support for dozens of languages; installable live CD
  
• Cons: The company's customer service has developed bad reputation over the years; complex, confusing web site infrastructure; dropping popularity due to its commercial nature and unpopular corporate decisions in the past
  
• Software package management: URPMI with Rpmdrake (a graphical front-end for URPMI) using RPM packages; "SMART" available as an alternative method
  
• Available editions: Freely downloadable Mandriva Free and One editions for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; commercial Mandriva Discovery, PowerPack and PowerPack Plus editions for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64); also high-end "Corporate" solutions for desktops, servers and firewalls, all with long-term support options
  
• Suggested Mandriva-based alternatives: PCLinuxOS(desktop), MCNLive(live CD)

6 ... PCLinux ....

• Pros: Out-of-the-box support for graphics drivers, browser plugins and media codecs; fast boot times; up-to-date software
  
• Cons: No 64-bit edition offered; no out-of-the-box support for non-English languages; lacks release planning
  
• Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using RPM packages
  
• Available editions: MiniMe, Junior and BigDaddy editions for 32-bit (i586) processor architectures
  
• Suggested PCLinuxOS-based alternative: SAM Linux Desktop

7 ... MEPIS ... ah , why its on 7 , it should be on 5 ..

• Pros: Beginner-friendly; excellent hardware auto-detection and support; intuitive, installable live CD
  
• Cons: Software in its repositories not always up-to-date, lacks development roadmap
  
• Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages
  
• Available editions: Simply MEPIS for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors

8 ... Knoppix .... this one is nice ...

• Pros: Unparalleled hardware auto-detection and auto-configuration; portable operating system that can be used for rescue, demonstration and testing tasks; provides a hard-disk installation script
  
• Cons: Recent releases somewhat buggy; lack of polish and unification of menus across the different desktop environments; slow when run from DVD
  
• Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages
  
• Available editions: Live CD and Live DVD editions for 32-bit (i386) processors
  
• Suggested Debian/KNOPPIX-based alternatives: Damn Small Linux, sidux,Xandros Desktop, Elive, Dreamlinux, Parsix GNU/Linux, grml

9 ... Slack ware .... it is the most oldest surving linux from year of '92 !! it should be on top , but i think its not as much popular as others ....

• Pros: Highly stable, clean and bug-free, strong adherence to UNIX principles
  
• Cons: Limited number of officially supported applications; conservative in terms of base package selection; complex upgrade procedure; no official 64-bit edition
  
• Software package management: "pkgtools" using TGZ (TAR.GZ) packages
  
• Available editions: Installation CDs and DVD for 32-bit (i486) processors
  
• Suggested Slackware-based alternatives: Zenawalk Linux (desktop), Vector Linux(desktop), SLAX(live CD),Slamd64 Linux(64-bit),Bluewhite64 Linux (64-bit),Wolvix (desktop, live CD),GoblinX (desktop, live CD)
  
• Other distributions with similar philosophies: Arch Linux ,Frugalware Linux, KateOS

10 ... Gentoo ....

• Pros: Excellent software management infrastructure, unparalleled customisation and tweaking options, superb online documentation
  
• Cons: Occasional instability and risk of breakdown, the project suffers from lack of directions and frequent infighting between its developers
  
• Software package management: "Portage" using source (SRC) packages
  
• Available editions: Minimal installation CD and live CD (with GNOME) for Alpha, AMD64, HPPA, IA64, MIPS, PPC, SPARC and x86 processors; also "stages" for manual installation from command line
  
• Suggested Gentoo-based alternatives: Sabayon Linux(desktop, live CD/DVD), VLOS(desktop), Ututo(desktop, free software only)
  
• Other source-based distributions: Lunar Linux,Source Mage GNU/Linux, Sorcerer ,Linux from Scratch
  

11 ... Free BSD ... i thought its only top 10 ... its decendent of old AT & T UNIX ..

• Pros: Fast and stable; availability of over 15,000 software applications (or "ports") for installation; very good documentation
  
• Cons: Tends to lag behind Linux in terms of support for exotic hardware, limited availability of commercial applications; lacks graphical configuration tools
  
• Software package management: A complete command-line package management infrastructure using either binary packages or source-based "ports" (TBZ)
  
• Available editions: Installation CDs for Alpha, AMD64, i386, IA64, PC98 and SPARC64 processors
  
• Suggested FreeBSD-based alternatives: PC-BSD (desktop), DesktopBSD (desktop), FreeSBIE(live CD)
  
• Other BSD alternatives: OpenBSD,NetBSD, DragonFly BSD

that is it ....

njoy reading ... and don't forget to try atleast one of above distros ...

MEWU - Scene 4 ... GUI Firewall ..

Hmm, like all you know , Linux is comparatively safer then other dumb OSes ... ( do i need to name 'em ?? ) ... so linux is not required to have an AV products ... also , It has built-in Firewall , which is Ip-Tables ...which are basically rules written manually !!! , but its little difficult for "common guy" like me to write syntexes and codes .. ah it just makes me nervous ... so i prefer more GUI ... well you can say its "side-effect" on me due to overdoze of "window" medicine !! ... so this front-end software is very handy for me ... they call it .."fire starter" ... sort of ..

Well, Firestarter is basically just a front end ... it still uses Ip-tables as back end .. means , since Ip-tables are little geeky to use, Firestarter makes life eazy by providing Graphical interface of Ip-tables !!!




we can install in via , synaptic manger ... just search for "firestarter" and you get it !!!

or in terminal type ..

sudo apt-get install firestarter

it will work fine too ... at first time you will be needed to provide the name of interface for which you want this firewall to work ... i use wifi mainly so i had chosen, ATH0 ( i think, ath0 is for atheros cards only !!! ) ... and you are all set ... but again , this GUI doesn't load on startups ... ( don't mix gui with original firewalls ... because the Ip-tables itself gets loaded once n/w gets established but in deamon/background ) , so to start firestarter at startup you can do any way you like , but the way i preferred is through , system -> preferances -> sessions , in startups , ADD , choose name and description as you like , and for command , write ,

gksudo firestarter

so , next time when you will boot , it will ask for password when it will be loaded i think its more safer option then just setting such a way that it doesn't ask for password ( still you need to save your password somewhere to make firestarter start automatically !!! , because thist s/w itself needed to have root privillage ) ...

njoy ....