Matthew Miller <mattdm(a)mattdm.org> wrote:
On Thu, Jul 19, 2007 at 09:50:33AM -0400, seth vidal wrote:
> > system level software. That's useful -- but, as mentioned, kinda
> > crack-ridden. (Partly, of course, because the distinction between user
> > level and system level is very blurry.)
> blurry? no it's completely non-existent. :)
There's at least a whole lot of overlap. :)
Nope. If it has to be installed/configured/managed by root, it is system
software, regardless of it being the kernel or a game. The stuff in
$HOME is yours to mess around with.
To think otherwise is creating a whole new landscape of operating
system... and that can't be handled by just "OK, let's install <foo kind
of packages> by default under the control of Joe R. User", there has to
be a _lot_ more thought behind it.
> This feels pretty scary. We'd constantly be moving the line
to
> accommodate varying levels of paranoia - and we'd have a big list we'd
> have to keep current to make sure it wasn't outdated.
Maybe just a simple list of white-listed packages, then. If this were
done,
I'd think the default Fedora config should be very very conservative (and,
also, the entire feature off), but having that infrastructure there could be
very helpful for controlled environments.
Exactly the other way around. In a controlled environment, you could
give the root password (or a suitably restricted sudo(1) entry) to
assorted users, or require users to contact the sysadmin to install
stuff. If you are thinking about the machines in a lab, the /very last/
thing you want is different configurations because on each machine a
random user, way back, ran some program with unusual flags, and didn't
note that this meant installing some gunk.
So this /can/ be handled locally (fully respecting the local level of
paranoia and configuration consistency requirements) right now with a
bit of work.
--
Dr. Horst H. von Brand User #22616
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