98 Guy wrote in :

On the other hand, so can huge amounts of RegEx filters in
Proxomitron, but there is a middle ground. Did you try it
and reject it? If so, why?

I've never tried proxomitron.

I find it easier and faster to edit a text file.


That can be arranged... Prox uses plain text for configs, filters, lists
etc, and you can reload all from Prox's controls when done. Worth a look, say
I..

Sometimes I will access my router's http admin interface and bring up
the out-going logs to see what hosts my browser has been talking to when
I browse any given website. I find that I can see hosts there in the
log that I can't or don't see when I look at the http source-code of the
page or site or the bottom info bar of the browser.


That's a good source of info. Could be used for host files or Prox blocklists
with equal effect. One thing Prox does well is a log window. But another is
setting bounds on its RegEx that speed things up a lot, especially in
combination with all accesses being RAM based once its filters are loaded.

I know that if I was running an out-bound firewall that I would see that
info there as well (or at least theoretically I should) but I've also
never bothered with a firewall because I see pretty much zero value in
running it full-time on any of my win-98 systems.



I haven't done exhaustive tests on LnS Firewall, but a quick look at a task
manger (ATM, Italian program by Enrico Del Fante) shows it eating less than a
basic wav player API demo, so I never begrudge it being there. If it had been
hungry and ineffective like Zone Alarm I would have. I wouldn't want too many
things running, but a couple of tools that will save me from having to
relearn other methods if I ever change the browser or FTP system are worth
having. I see it as if it were WXP with a couple of daemons (services) used,
but unlike WXP, I get to choose which ones, and am not bound to the OS
either.

Specific to LnS, I like the ability it has to learn a program's identity and
pass or block net access according to that, or prompt me if it doesn't
already know. Given that some problems are more easily solved that way, than
by determining differences between remote addresses accessed by it, it's a
powerful extra tool to have, and something a hosts file (or a Prox blocklist)
cannot do.