Nick, the package is called "acct" all by itself.
IMHO it will not solve the problem you are facing. I have tried it and it is 
not "user-friendly" compared to what you are used to. I have watched numerous 
people go back to Windows largely because of user frustration/inability to 
discover/control what applications can and cannot internet connect.  I remember 
reading one review of ubuntu where the reviewer hooked up some friends with 
11.04 to get their opinions. One of the things the friends complained about was 
only having control of ports (and not applications) in the firewall. I could 
have swore it was at tomshardware.com. I've searched but can't find the review. 
It was back around the time 11.04 came out. 
The way Linux deals with applications and internet connections has not evolved 
to a consumer-desktop-level. In an age where privacy and security are very 
important, it's going to need to address this to gain more users. I was sad to 
see Bug 820895 marked as Won't Fix.

I personally tried to get my friend to start using ubuntu. But he grew 
frustrated with no application firewall capabilities. He posted in the 
ubuntu-forums on the issue and it generated a long discussion but ultimately 
turned into a big mess where lots of ubuntu users were calling him an idiot and 
saying that Windows uses an application firewall because Windows sucks. The 
thread was closed and my friend went back to Windows feeling like ubuntu is 
only for programmers and everyone that uses Ubuntu thinks he's stupid cause he 
wanted an application firewall.

From: nru...@hotmail.com
To: ps...@ubuntu.com; ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com
Subject: RE: can we find a solution to bug #820895 (show Process Name in log    
files)?
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:16:22 -0500







Philip, thanks for your reply. I greatly appreciate it. You said,

>>>If you don't like the connections a program makes, then configure it not
 to do so.  If you can't do that, then don't run such a bad program.>>>

This is what I'm trying to do on Ubuntu! :)   if I can't log the process name, 
How do I learn what connections a program is making so that I can configure 
that program to not make those connections? You see the problem? 

For over a year I have been struggling (on Ubuntu) with a way to identify the 
connections programs are making so that I can do what you say: configure it not 
to make those connections or to uninstall the program if I deem it a "bad 
program." This is a non-issue on Microsoft Windows because I can easily 
identify connections programs are making and I can KNOW the comings and goings 
on my computer as it is all logged with Application Name in the firewall log. 
One of the criteria I use to select which applications I install and run is 
"internet connection behavior." It has been very difficult selecting 
applications I prefer in Ubuntu because I am forced to sit and watch netstat 
while trying to accomplish things. What I have ended up doing is (when 
available) installing the same program on Windows, study the firewall log in 
Windows and then deeming it a "good" or "bad" program for use in Ubuntu. So I 
am still seeking a solution on Ubuntu. If there's some other way to accomplish 
what I'm after (than using a Firewall Log), I will use it. But I have yet to 
find as reasonable a solution on Ubuntu. As others have remarked in forums etc, 
this is becoming an increasing priority in order to manage Mobile Broadband 
internet connection usage as the accounts come with bandwidth caps where users 
are charged a lot of extra money if they exceeds the caps.

I will investigate using acct package, is this the name ("acct" or "acct 
package") I should search for in Synaptic? I have not tried this as a solution 
and really appreciate your suggestion.



> Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:55:18 -0500
> From: ps...@ubuntu.com
> To: nru...@hotmail.com
> CC: ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com
> Subject: Re: can we find a solution to bug #820895 (show Process Name in log 
> files)?
> 
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> On 01/25/2012 06:22 PM, nick rundy wrote:
> > Is there anything that can be done to create some way for Ubuntu
> > users to get the capability of having a static record of what
> > application/s made an outgoing connection?
> 
> That would require a change to the iptables kernel module that implements 
> process based rules.  Last I saw, it wasn't really maintained because the 
> whole concept is considered broken by design.  In other words, you shouldn't 
> be setting rules based on processes.  
> 
> Needing an external firewall to control network activity of a program in the 
> first place is the result of using badly behaved closed source programs, and 
> so it largely a non issue for the open source community.
> 
> > The capability to log "process names" has been requested by numerous
> > users over the years, here's some links:
> 
> If you want to log what processes are run and when in general, then you can 
> install and configure the acct package.  You could then use the accounting 
> information to look up what process had a given pid at a given time.
> 
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