netbase_3.18-1 documentation

[Sam Bromley <sbromley@home.com>]

I need additional documentation on netbase 3.xx. Specifically, what the
following files are for, and how they are used:
/etc/network/options
/etc/network/spoof-protect

and also, how ip masquerading (ipchains) is relates to this new system.
(I refer to the use of /etc/init.d/network as the "old system"). In
particular, I would like the know the new order of operations of the
network setup procedure...what happens first...what happens next...up
until, say, a system with 2 ethernet cards, acting as a gateway, would
be initialized.

Currently under the "old system" /etc/init.d/network is executed, which
I follow by a custom /etc/init.d/ipforwarding script... The new system
seems to hint at a more integrated approach. 

I have been unable to find anything of detail, and the manpage for
interfaces(5) discusses little beyond the very basics of
/etc/network/interfaces.

Any information on this, or hints as to where I can find it, would be
greatly appreciated.
Cheers.