> learning more about iptables is a nice goal to have. sometimes i wish > it was just as glamorous for people to want to learn more about > routing and the OSI model, before becoming super l33t firewall > gurus...but i digress... Problem is: Neither of these topics can easily be approached by network newbs without a lot of setup. There aren't many visiting this list with routing more complicated than ip route add x via y As for OSI, any casual admin wouldn't find much real world value in it. I'd say OSI influences programmers more than admins. Experienced admins do need to understand programming and OSI's a good practical example of basic layered approaches, etc.. Plus, since others use OSI as a mindset when developing, its good to know where they get their ideas from. Firewalls are an inevitability these days. You either: Don't use a firewall and get viruses, or you do use a firewall and you're forced to fiddle with it when one of your programs doesn't work. See, your forced to learn it if you like networking and administration or not.
