Ubuntu Security :: Outbound Firewall Protection (permissive Vs. Restrictive) - What's Setup?

Using Windows, I always set a Restrictive firewall policy with a third party firewall. But I also had all ports set to Stealth, something that appears to not offer any security benefits (as I've learned from reading Ubuntu forums). I'd like to learn about best security practices (under Ubuntu) for outgoing firewall protection. I will be using the built-in Ubuntu firewall that is configured via Firestarter. Outgoing filtering offers privacy as well as security benefits. But I thought I needed my ports stealthed to be safe too, so I'm open to learning new things.

I wanted to start a poll to find out how many folks use permissive/restrictive, but no polls allowed here apparently.Could Ubuntu users knowledgeable about firewalls enlighten me on whether I should go Outbound-Restrictive and what applications I will need to allow so Ubuntu "housekeeping" is not affected negatively? I basically just use the internet for software updates, web-surfing and e-mail. One question I have is whether there is something comparable in Ubuntu to Window's "DNS Client" service? I always disabled Window's "DNS Client" and forced each application to request port 53 DNS lookups itself.I only had to allow four programs to accomplish all internet traffic that I engage in. I set all other programs/applications to be either Blocked or to have to Ask for an outgoing connection as needed.Here is my former Windows XP setup:

svchost.exe: allow UDP for ports 53, 67, 68, 123 (time) and TCP for ports 80, 443
Avast: allow UDP for port 53 and TCP for port 80
firefox: allow UDP for port 53 and TCP for ports 80, 443
IE: allow UDP for port 53 and TCP for ports 80, 443