Re: PPP / ADSL / demand / GUI prompt question

["stephen2eq@yahoo.com" <stephen2eq@yahoo.com>]

Celejar:
> something using a local "firewall", plus something like fwlogwatch,
> invoked with the -R option for "realtime response mode".  The idea

Thanks for that, I will have look at fwlogwatch if / when I have some more time to spend on this (unfortunately, a week off work just ended today).

Kevin Ross:
> I would suggest getting "demand" to work with pppd first.

I agree, this would be enough to allow me to let the machine boot up into Linux by default (as explained at the end of this message).

So, does anyone out there have any more suggestions as to what might be wrong with my attempt to use 'demand' with pppd?

> Then, you could use the "connect" option to launch some type of graphical
> yes/no prompt.  You may have to throw something together with Tcl/Tk or
> similar.

Thanks, if / when I have time I will look into what the 'connect' option does (apart from its surprising ability to only work when it is the first line in the file :-)

Stan Hoeppner:
> What do you have against using a PPPoE broadband router,
> like (most of)
> the rest of us?  Masochist?

During my first bout of epic googling this week (when I was trying to get the Internet connection working) I did come across the recommendation, in several places, that I buy a router and possibly also an Ethernet card.  If you suspect I had something against this idea then your intuition is sound.  That something being the fact that Windows has let me surf the Internet very happily for the last 7 years with the hardware I have :-)

In fact I am already surfing happily with Debian, even though I had never heard of iceweasel until 3 days ago (at first I thought how stupid is that name, but the name has grown on me and I never really liked the name 'Firefox' anyway, how could they not think it would constantly remind us of that Clint Eastwood movie?)

It is just that I would prefer that non-technical guests staying at my house not have to learn to start an xfce-term and type 'pon' before they can use the Internet.  If it comes to that I would make the machine boot up into Windows by default, but that would be an opportunity lost with regard to showing people that there is an alternative.

Thanks again to all who have replied.