Petition: K9 webfilter for linux

[anodem]

It's a pitty K9 webfilter isn't available on linux. With the groing interest in linux (especially Ubuntu) there are a lot of people without proper webfiltering in linux. (Forget about Dansguardian, it doesn't even let you change the password)

So, if you want to have K9 webfilter on linux, let the bluecoat people know. Tell them which distro you would like to have K9 on.

[anodem]

K9 for linux

[toonetown]

We are currently working on K9 for Mac OSX. Afterwards, we will be working towards K9 for Vista 64bit. Linux is still a bit down the list.

We prioritize based on the number of users on each platform (weighted by the ease of developing for that platform). We would love to have a linux version - and, if all goes as planned, we will have one some day in the future.

Part of the difficulty is that K9 has a driver-level component...which means we would have to develop different versions of K9 for different distributions.

If you are interested in K9 for linux, rather than posting your reply "K9 for linux", please post what distro you would like us to target. That way, we can know where the interest lies - and can start the investigation process for that distro.

[anodem]

That's great to hear, for me Ubuntu is the distro

[linickx]

Fedora please

.. better yet would be some source code we could compile

Thanks.

[Tech]

That's great to hear, for me Ubuntu is the distro

I second this. It would be good K9 for Ubuntu

[Graeme]

Me too!

SuSE Linux is on the PC that our children do most of their internet activities from currently, though I plan to add another PC for their primary internet use, the distro on which will probably be either SuSE, Puppy, or Vector (a Slackware derivative).

[stinkybob]

That's great to hear, for me Ubuntu is the distro

I second this. It would be good K9 for Ubuntu

Ubuntu for me as well..

[chimp_rex]

I have been using K9 for almost a year now and have recommended it to plenty of my friends who have children using the internet. It works well and has proven itself as a very good parental control software. Recently, a number of us has started shifting to linux...particularly Ubuntu Linux...at first to try and found out it's a good alternative. So, I hope the Blue Coat admin listens to us and come up with a K9 Web Protection for UBUNTU LINUX.

[RickH]

I am also using Ubuntu Linux and would very much like to see a Linux version.

[black_spot1984]

PLEASE!!! Get a version of K9 out for Ubuntu. Thanks!

[neenee]

Unless work on a linux version can be done without sacrificing
time and effort spent currently on the windows version, please
do not do this.

Though, if a dedicated linux team steps forward, by all means.

I am not against linux, I've used it for years myself.

[cartes]

My dream too : K9 for Ubuntu

[hhhobbit]

My dream too : K9 for Ubuntu

In the mean-time, this is available for free for all Linux users and it is completely under your control, but you MUST be a power user:

http://www.securemecca.com/
http://www.hostsfile.org

It consists of three portions

1. A pseudo HTTP Daemon
This handles the requests that are redirected to yourself.

2. A blocking hosts file
This only handles things that drop through the PAC filter

3. A PAC filter
This is the portion that does most of the blocking.

We will be providing it in French soon, but there are huge holes in content and we only attempt to block porn and gambling / gaming. That isn't just for content. The primary purpose of the hosts + PAC is to not only block content but also block sites that damage machines (Windows) or do exploits that will work on all operating systems. I will see if that one person who recently installed Ubuntu still has it on and if they do I will merge in the install code for Ubuntu. That install will also probably work for all of the Debian-esque flavors but I wouldn't know.

It's weakness is that there are huge gaping holes in terms of content. There are more false negatives than false positives. But it is better than going without anything. But the positive is that unlike everything else it speeds up your Internet connection. In addition to blocking content and sites that damage it also blocks some of the most notorious spy domains on the Internet. That is the reason your connection speeds up.

There is no install for Ubuntu yet, but the Fedora / RHEL install should work with OpenSuSE with few if any modifications. I will try to find somebody who has Ubuntu and complete the modifications for the install. But if you Ubuntu people want to volunteer to give me what works then I will just merge that in.

Sites that damage Windows machines or do exploits on all systems receive higher priority, and if they also disseminate gambling or porn they are enemy number one. Hey, it is better than going with nothing. Just because Linux is safer than Windows doesn't mean it doesn't need protection in addition to blocking content.

HHH

[jkbichsel]

I am currently using Ubuntu 7.0.4 and have used SuSe and Red Hat. Please keep us posted on the development progress for linux.
Thanks