Skype, Firestarter, and port 445

First off, I'm not happy with Skype in my Ubuntu. How our perceptions change with a new OS. I better figure out a way to remove it.

Second, about port 445. Using a firewall in Ubuntu reveals a lot of things that were before hidden but is now cause for earnest concern. By the inherent weakness of Microsoft's security design, hackers use this port to gain access to tens of thousands of computers connected in the Internet.

In my own Firestarter, using Sun's USB Broadband connection, I see a lot of local IP addresses - DHCP-assigned by the Sun ISP - attempting to exploit the 445 port of my computer via the protocol of Windows-DS (directory services).