Terje Bless <link(a)pobox.com> wrote:
Horst von Brand <vonbrand(a)inf.utfsm.cl> wrote:
>ifconfig(8) is not for luser consumption, and so are lots of others.
`ifconfig` is _also_ for system administrators. Regular users — my
Oracle DBAs, say —
Those aren't "regular users" by a /very/ long shot in my book.
have a legitimate need to check the output of
ifconfig on occasion; and I would just as soon not have to fiddle with
paths or aliases for all those accounts on all the systems I administer.
Set up a generic .bashrc for those special accounts then...
I also find it annoying that I either have to type the full path —
particularly as it means I have to remember which of
/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin the utility in questions resides in — or
become root just to check ifconfig output.
Use aliases.
Utilities that serve a useful purpose for non-root users should by
default be available in non-root users' path; if in no other way then at
least by way of a symlink in the “unprivileged” directory.
They are in /bin and /usr/bin. What is in /sbin or /usr/sbin is /not/ for
regular user consumption. If they need it, they aren't regular users.
Conversely, utilities that non-root users should not be allowed to
use
need to be protected in an effective manner;
... by permission to run only by selected user/group, by internal checks in
the utility, by permission checks in the kernel; where you /must/ rely
only on the last for real security, just exactly as this has worked from
day one (or thereabouts) in Unix...
and removing the
directory
from their path is not it. This isn't even security by obscurity, it's
security by obtuseness.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with security, and everything with not
confusing random users with commands they can't use sensibly.
--
Dr. Horst H. von Brand User #22616
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