With both the Red Hat and Suse set-ups I was able to connect from the machine upstairs and fly files back and
forth with Samba, just like over the wire. Amazing. Then I set up a basic Apache server, and WDAL was born!
Although, my "listeneres" were initially limited to whatever static content I happened to serve up,
which included a few personal pix, my fledgling personal wiki, a few tunes - and other bloviated nonsense that
I was just so sure the whole world was interested in.
Later on, however, I began wondering about weird notions such as wireless distribution
systems, DIY long-range antennas, and community networks. Perhaps WDAL could serve as sort of a "neighborhood
gateway," to which people could connect from their homes, post notes and comments to each other (hey! when are
you gonna cut your lawn), trade pix, listen to music, and so on. Experimenting with this, as well as tinkering
with the security of the rest of my network, has meant that WDAL's uptime has been sporadic at best - because,
well, to me a "router" is something you use to cut dadoes with, right? But I am learning a lot, and
having fun too, so what more can you want. Today the backyard, tomorrow the worrrrrld! Muahahahaha!
Should you wish to skip the learning part, have a look at the excellent NoCat. A
lot of what I am trying to do is similar in concept (but not nearly as refined in execution) as NoCat.