Query: conntrack verus state command set

[william fitzgerald <wfitzgerald@tssg.org>]

Dear all,

I have began my initial investigation into iptables from reading the 
200+ page documentation by Oskar Andresson along with the man pages.

My question is the conntrack command set a replacement for the -m state 
commands or is it an enhancement?

I am a little confused as I see some examples on the web etc that don't 
use conntrack at all and others that do with the state options.

so is "conntrack" an add on to the "state" option or is it envisioned 
that "conntrack" will replace the "state" option?

in fact can the iptables provide statefull inspection with just the 
"state" command set?

kind regards,
Will.

-- 
William M. Fitzgerald,
PhD Student,
Telecommunications Software & Systems Group,
Waterford Institute of Technology,
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