Book foreword / first reviews out
Glad to see two book reviews on Amazon already, both with five stars!
I was thrilled to have the foreword for the book written by one of my favorite authors, Michael W Lucas, the author of Absolute FreeBSD, Absolute OpenBSD, Cisco Routers for the Desperate, PGP & GPG, among other things. Thought I would share it here.
My friends and co-workers know that I build firewalls. At least once a month someone says “My company needs a firewall with X and Y, and the price quotes I’ve gotten are tens of thousands of dollars. Can you help us out?”
Anyone who builds firewalls knows this question could be more realistically phrased as “Could you please come over one evening and slap together some equipment for me, then let me randomly interrupt you for the next three to five years to have you install new features, debug problems, set up features I didn’t know enough to request, attend meetings to resolve problems that can’t possibly be firewall issues but someone thinks might be the firewall, and identify solutions for my innumerable unknown requirements? Oh, and be sure to test every possible use case before deploying anything.”
Refusing these requests makes me seem churlish. Accepting these requests ruins my cheerful demeanor. For a long time, I wouldn’t build firewalls except for my employer. pfSense lets me be a nicer person without having to actually work at it. With pfSense I can deploy a firewall in just a few hours — and most of that is running cables and explaining the difference between “inside” and “outside.” pfSense’s extensive documentation and user community offers me an easy answer to questions — “did you look that up?” If pfSense doesn’t support a feature, chances are I couldn’t support it either. But pfSense supports everything I could ask for, and with a friendly interface to boot. The wide userbase means that features are tested in many different environments and generally “just work,” even when interacting with the CEO’s kids’ Windows ME PC connected to the Internet by Ethernet over ATM over carrier pigeon. Best of all, pfSense is built on much of the same software I’d use myself. I trust the underlying FreeBSD operating system to be secure, stable, and efficient.
Security updates? Just click a button and reboot. You need new features? Just turn them on. pfSense handles clustering, traffic shaping, load balancing, integration with your existing equipment through RADIUS, IPsec, PPTP, monitoring, dynamic DNS, and more. Big-name industry suppliers charge outrageous fees to support what pfSense freely provides. If your employer insists on paying for support contracts, or if you just feel more secure knowing you can pick up the phone and scream for help, you can get pfSense support agreements very reasonably. If you don’t need a support contract, I happen to know that Chris, Jim, or anyone else with a pfSense commit bit will let grateful pfSense users buy them a beer or six.
Personally, I don’t build firewalls from scratch any more. When I need a firewall, I use pfSense.
– Michael W. Lucas
Tags: book
November 10th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Awesome, his Absolute FreeBSD (and the other BSD ones) are some of my very favorite computer books of all time.
His writing style rocks.
November 11th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Nice ! …no…..Awesome !
When reading such words…we realize that we aren’t alone
November 11th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Such an exciting time – PFSense nearing 1.2.3 release, Nanobsd, a new book and a recommendation from Michael Lucas! Chris, Scott & team – thank you so much, please keep up the great work – you guys rock!
November 12th, 2009 at 6:27 am
I think I’ll buy the book – this project absolutely deserve everything that it may need to keep going. It’s far the best amongst the competition.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Gaaah….
Now I’m getting really impatient, while waiting for Amazon to ship the book to me!
But truly, pfSense is an amazing product, and deserves every bit of support and praise it gets!
November 12th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Waiting for my book from Amazon! The project is great and, most importantly, the support is amazing. Keep up the good work!
November 13th, 2009 at 12:09 am
I absolutely love the book!! Very well organized and plenty of examples.
Very happy with it and will keep it handy for a long time.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Pfsense..!!! Simple… The Best
Axellsan/BR
November 13th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I finally got the book after 9 days of patience…very nice.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Mine was also dispatched by amazon.co.uk. I will have it next week then. Can’t wait and hopefully the chapter about traffic shaping is worth the book
November 16th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Got my copy today. Ordered on November 6th, shipped on 11th and delivered by DHL in Canada on 16th. Great book!
November 17th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Just bought 2 copies. One for me and one for the office. Thanks
November 17th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Also waiting on a book from Amazon. They initially said it was due to arrive on the 5th of January (I am down under in Australia) but now it is due to arrive before Christmas. I am so excited that I might wrap it and put it under the tree!
November 18th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Great book, received it today from Amazon USA! Thanks for that really good written book filled with a lot of useful information!
November 20th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Just received my book from amazon.co.uk well worth the wait, thank you pfSense
November 20th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
For my happiness today I bought my book edition
Thanks one more time for GREAT work.
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you, pfsense. Without such a great product, our company would not be able to operate. We bought the book too!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Up to six reviews now, still all five stars. Just ordered a copy for us!
December 10th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Any non-dead-trees version, pleeeeease?
December 11th, 2009 at 12:29 am
I just received my copy and have started reading. Although I support PFSense virtually every day, I have already learned several additional things about this amazing firewall distribution. The book is well written with clear instructions, some great technical information, and excellent diagrams. Congratulations on a job well done!
December 12th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I ordered a copy of this great book today. Can’t wait until it arrive.
pfSense is great.
December 13th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Looking at a Dec 21st delivery date! PfSense is the best! Thanks for all the hardwork and support!
December 28th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Ordered 2 today! Thanks very much for the great work and all of the help over the years.