[Bug 146737] Re: Ubuntu offers no "zero configuration network" or so (unlike Apple)

[Loye Young]

>I am not a computer security specialist but I think there must be a way
>of doing this, and doing this in such way that it is safe for the
>system.

There are several existing safe methods to transfer files between
computers. The method you describe is not safe because any other
computer connected via the ethernet port would be able to get the
files off your system. Thus, every time you connected to the Internet,
everyone in the world could get your files. It's the way Windows 98
did it, and one of many reasons why Windows is a security nightmare.

>I do not know what DHCP is. Neither do I know what NAT is.

DHCP is the standard protocol by which the computer negotiates for an
IP address. A router usually has a built-in DHCP server that
administers which computers get which IP address. NAT is the system of
sharing a single Internet connection among several computers.
Technically, NAT is independent of DHCP, but in practice, NAT and DHCP
work together.

The "average user" is connected to the Internet using a computer that
already automatically asks the router for a connection to the network
(using DHCP), and the router automatically allocates the IP address
and connects the computer. Once connected, all the computers on the
network can share data and files.

If you really do have two stand-alone computers and you want to
connect them together, install the dhcp3-server package on one of the
computers and use a crossover cable to connect the two together. If
you don't have a crossover cable, you can connect them via a switch or
hub.

>I might add that connecting B and C via USB cable would probably be
>similarly acceptable for the average user.

This is appropriate for another discussion, but in short, connecting
two computers using a regular USB cable is dangerous. You could well
end up frying your motherboard. It is possible using a USB crossover
cable, but that's outside the scope of this discussion.

-- 
Ubuntu offers no "zero configuration network" or so (unlike Apple)
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/146737
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