> Something in between could be a firewall with some simple (or 
> complex even)
> network services, which could convince the customer of 
> putting at least
> something in between his LAN and the big bad internet.


> 
> OTOH, if anyone is planning to create some kind of all-in-one 
> solution, I
> really willing to help in all the ways I can.
> 

setting the debate about the advisability of creating a device which is something other than a PURE
firewall, with no other services running on it, to one side for a moment, might m0n0BSD be a
starting point for this all in one appliance?

It's FreeBSD based, so all the goodness of the *BSD ip* (ipfilter, ipsec etc) stuff for fire
walling, with the benefit of the FreeBSD ports collection for the other bits required.

From what i can see on the website (http://m0n0.ch/bsd/) there is an image for soekris 45xx boards. 
Whereas for a combined Firewall/appliance device i would guess a 4801, with its UltraDMA-33 44pin
connector, for fileshare/mail/whatever else storage, would make more sense. Board, case, power
supply, 2.5" HD should be less than $500

Or else, in a similar fashion to m0n0wall, either a generic-PC image, or boot off CD, config on
floppy, and internal HD for storage (/home, others as needed?)

regards
mike