I had read the man pages. I always try to glean what I can out of them and other documentation and googling first. If you will notice my question, I was getting what seemed like odd behaviour. I also didn't know what I didn't know so I didn't have a base to understand many things. Since then, I have devoured reading all kinds of tips and tutorial on TCP/IP, etc. The problem on the RELATED,ESTABLISHED rule was that if I tested without the firewall, I was already connected with a page refresh. Then when I enabled the firewall, it let things go through that it shouldn't have. If I let the connection time out, then it works fine.

The manual doesn't explain things like how and why you want these type of rules:

Code:

-A OUTPUT -d 127.0.0.1 -p tcp --dport 8118 -m owner ! --uid-owner dansguardian -j DROP
-A POSTROUTING -t nat -o lo -p tcp --dport 8080 -j SNAT --to 127.0.0.1
-A OUTPUT -t nat ! -d 127.0.0.1 -p tcp --dport 80 -m owner ! --uid-owner root -j REDIRECT --to-ports 8080

and why you need:

Code:

-A INPUT -d 255.255.255.255/0.0.0.255 -j DROP
-A INPUT -d 224.0.0.1 -j DROP

and why REJECT instead of drop in:

Code:

-A INPUT -j REJECT

I understand why now after a lot of reading and help from more helpful forums who say more than just "read the man page."

I feel that too many people assume that if you are having problems, that it is just because you didn't read the man pages, etc. Sometimes it is just that there are knowledge deficits the prevent the pieces from coming together. What is needed is for people to help fill in the gaps of this knowledge and mentor rather than simply quote the man page.

Regards,
Narnie