firewall - general

[yellowdog-general@lists.terrasoftsolutions.com]

Hello all,
am running 300MHz, iBook with 3GB, 160MB & ydl 2.3 CD.
Before I go ahead, had better see what`s involved & if I`m heading in the right
direction.
My reading suggests that a firewall & (proxy server?) with encryption, are
required for security & anonymity on the net.
The question is:
1)Can my setup, support such a configuration without too much performance
degradation?
2)Given that the install has services on, that I don`t even know how to use yet,
can the firewall be secure?
3)Even though this is (almost) the latest kernel version , will I still have to
recompile a new one?
4)It appears components like iptables are already installed, can I hope that
everything needed is already loaded?
5)Is a proxy server needed for anonymity?

There is lot`s of great information about the actual build & install from
scratch, but obviously they can`t cover every new release on CD.

Any advice much appreciated.

regards,ray.