On Thu, 2007-01-25 at 20:20 -0700, Craig White wrote: > On Thu, 2007-01-25 at 19:38 -0500, Ric Moore wrote: > > On Thu, 2007-01-25 at 07:41 -0700, Craig White wrote: > > > On Thu, 2007-01-25 at 06:05 -0800, David Boles wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Would know if Freespire has the same security flaw that Linspire has? > > > > Everything by design in Linspire is run as 'root'. The GUI desktop. The > > > > applications. The whole thing. Just like Windows does. > > > ---- > > > Like Ric & Gene > > > > > > Craig > > > > You just had to go there, huh? <chuckles> > > > > Gene, Les, Tim and I must have been separated at birth, so our > > coinciding use of the root user is just a sign of that. That plus older > > vehicles with no computers nor smog controls on them, just belching > > excess gas and carbon into the ozone the way God intended an American > > Make to do; though side-pipes to scorch the pavement, a proper > > gear-ratio to spin the tires and to scare the neighborhood into a hasty > > retreats while shooing the children to safety. All of that while > > stone-cold sober. OOH-RAH! > > > > <Hi-fives Gene + Les> + <smirks> Ric > ---- > I don't recall Les ever sounding in on whether he logs into the GUI > desktop as root - perhaps he does but I think not. I wouldn't know about > Tim. > > I do see Gene complaining about things that he thinks didn't get > installed properly where no one else has had those issues and I think > they relate to his continual operation as root, especially building > packages as root. > > It strikes me as a lazy habit and once someone has settled in to this > habit, they will not give it up easily. Reminds me of the adage that > people will purchase emotionally and try to defend their purchase > rationally. > > I am sort of amused by the adoption of procedure on various OS's - where > Windows installs the first user as superuser and this user must actually > labor to create new user accounts and remove the administrative role > from the first user account. Fedora first boot asks you to create the > unprivileged user account and some users log in as super user anyway. > > It's clear that the reason that Windows sets the normal user account to > superuser privileges because they want to appeal to the non-technical > users who simply want to turn on a computer and start using it right > away. The penalty for that is that this user must run firewalls that ask > questions the user doesn't understand, employ anti-virus software that > this user probably won't verify is being updated and hopefully, when the > subscription based update service expires, handholds the user into > repurchase and gets it updated. > > Clearly this is the market that Linspire is seeking which is why they > also run as superuser. > > Linux has traditionally followed the UNIX methodology where the least > privileges necessary to function and Fedora / Red Hat has embraced this > principle closely and has helped to develop the tools necessary to allow > the user to function and obtain privileges if/when necessary/possible. > > In the end however, it is still your system and of course, you are > entitled to use however you see fit including disabling SELinux, build > packages as root, run GUI as root, etc. I guess that the thing that > clinches it for me is the people whose opinions I most respect suggest > the above is not good practice. > > Craig > Sorry, Ric, In this case Craig is right. I do not run as superuser. I run as a liddle ole' normla user (sic). I have found that my stumbling fingers stumble into some nasties all by them selves as root that I then have to try to figure out what I did and why it had those precise consequences. Regards, Les H
