IPFire is among the 15 projects that will present their work at CeBIT, offering an open source firewall distribution.

In a nutshell - describe your project in a few words:

IPFire set a goal for itself to develop a firewall distribution with a very high security level that is also easy to install and intuitive to use. We also put a high value on multiple deployment opportunities: IPFire scales from home users to mid-sized companies and can be adapted to individual needs through numerous extensions.

When did the project begin?

The project began in 2004 from a need to develop a network system that covers a wider task area than a conventional router.

How many active members does the project have?

The team consists of five international core developers and a handful of very active community developers. But users themselves contribute a lot of small improvements that ultimately make a big difference in IPFire quality.

How did the project come about?

At first it was an extension for an existing Linux firewall distribution. It turned out very quickly, however, that IPFire needed to go another path to make a more adequate use of its functionality. That encouraged many to continue further development on the project. Because we were quickly reaching the cutting edge, in November, 2007, after two years of development, we released a complete, fundamental redesign with IPFire 2.0. With good experience and the high stability that the system provides, IPFire soon found an entry in mid-sized to large enterprises and the user count has been growing steadily.

What would make a CeBIT visitor interested in your booth?

Because we offer each visitor an individually tailored security solution with easy usability. We can answer all questions as to applicability and will give practical tips for installation. We will gladly hand out CDs for use in the enterprise or at home.

Who do you make your software for?

The target groups for IPFire are individual users and companies, but also interested parties from the educational and scientific areas.

Where do you see your biggest current challenge?

The greatest challenge for the IPFire team is to find enough free time for the various project tasks. Because of the time constraints, many ideas are put on hold, as other concerns with a higher priority keep coming up. Other things fall away from a lack of financial resources, because our project is fully supported from within our ranks.

If you were to hire a full-time project developer now, what problem should he or she be ready to solve?

Development of our new version 3.

Under which license is the software currently offered?

GNU General Public License v3.

Internet adress: http://www.ipfire.org.

IPFire is among the 15 projects that will present their work at CeBIT, offering an open source firewall distribution.