One of the biggest changes in the Linux 3.13 release is the inclusion of the new nftables packet filtering technology, which is intended to be a successor to the widely deployed iptables technology. Iptables are typically used for security, access and firewall configuration on Linux servers and systems.
The basic idea with nftables is that it is a more robust and easier to use than iptables while offering similar functionality that is backward-compatible with existing iptables rules. “We are supportive of nftables and what it means for the Linux community moving forward,” Denise Dumas, senior director of Platform Engineering at Red Hat, told eWEEK. “iptables has always been difficult for customers to use successfully, and we have high hopes that nftables will provide a much more user-friendly experience.”