Firewalls, are they really necessary?

From: aq (aq_at_somewhere.somehow)
Date: 12/17/04 

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 04:45:45 GMT

Hey all, i've been using linux for quite a while now and i have a couple
of questions. I am under the impression that the general view regarding
firewalls is that they are essential to network security.

I have seen the effects of adware etc etc on a windoze pc within five
minutes or so of connecting to the net without a firewall! Actually i
saw the same thing on my windoze setup, my two mates and to a lesser
extent (i think maybe due to their 56k connection speed) my parents
computer-my dad is open to migration tho, as long as i can get Autoroute
to work :-)

Basically the way i understand it is this: no-one can maliciously
violate a pc without a service to violate, so to avoid this i turn all
the ones i don't need off with the exception of things such as sendmail
(i like the ability to send email from my own masqueraded address :-)
and smbd when i get the LAN up and running again. I have run my linux
box for ages without a firewall (or with iptables set to accept all
connections) and suffered no ill effects.

Is there really any point in running a firewall for a home (ie.
non-critical) system that's pretty much used just as a jukebox, office
suite, movie player and download manager?

Also on a sidenote-i know my linux box is pretty much impregnable to
stuff like viruses and whotknot, so i don't use a virus scanner (it just
seems like a waste of overhead that could be used better) although there
are a couple available for linux. But what about wine? There've been
things (ahem) that i've had to generate keys for and wine says that the
generator is possibly affected with a virus of some kind but it runs
anyway. Am i leaving myself open to um... violation?

You may all think i'm mad but i just don't see the need for a firewall
in a home environment, and the way people talk about them it seems like
if you don't use it you're inviting fate. Could anyone put me right on
this viewpoint?

Kind Regards.

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