From owner-freebsd-security Sun Oct 8 9:30: 3 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-security@freebsd.org Received: from homer.softweyr.com (bsdconspiracy.net [208.187.122.220]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 06DA537B503 for ; Sun, 8 Oct 2000 09:29:56 -0700 (PDT) Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=softweyr.com ident=Fools trust ident!) by homer.softweyr.com with esmtp (Exim 3.16 #1) id 13iJVD-0000WX-00; Sun, 08 Oct 2000 10:40:43 -0600 Message-ID: <39E0A38B.728C3C50@softweyr.com> Date: Sun, 08 Oct 2000 10:40:43 -0600 From: Wes Peters Organization: Softweyr LLC X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (X11; U; FreeBSD 4.1-STABLE i386) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: David Talkington Cc: "freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG" Subject: Re: Check Point FW-1 References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org David Talkington wrote: > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > >What is really the difference is being able to dial 1-800-FIREWALL and > >have someone help you out, etc. > >Darren > > Yeah, I wonder if my (item b) instinct was unfair. David Pick > mentioned herein the possibility that the company might not even WANT > the expertise to be in-house, and while his scenario was pretty ugly, > it suggests a more benign one ... if the company goes with an > open-source solution, and you're the only one on staff who knows how > to use it, they are then dependent on your talent. Great for you, but > bad for them, if turnover is high. At least a purchased solution > ensures some kind of support no matter who leaves the company. > > Your thoughts on this? Seems like a valid concern, and not one that I > had considered. (Perhaps I'm naive ... ) This sounds like an excellent opportunity to sell them on the open source route, then parlay it into a consulting business. ;^) It is a viable concern from the business standpoint. A part of the problem is the insistence of short-sighted businesses in not having two-deep training on essential technologies. Contracting an outside firm is supposed to gain this two- (or more) deep support, with only the staffing costs that you actually need. Perhaps you could find a local firm that provides such consulting as a backup, and pay the small fee to keep them up to date on your configuration so they can take over, at least temporarily, if you get hit by a bus. -- "Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?" Wes Peters Softweyr LLC wes@softweyr.com http://softweyr.com/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-security" in the body of the message