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Date:      Fri, 1 Feb 2002 19:56:21 -0500
From:      Brian T.Schellenberger <bts@babbleon.org>
To:        Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com>, Paul Fardy <pdfardy@mac.com>
Cc:        current@FreeBSD.ORG, stable@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Junior Annoying Hacker Task
Message-ID:  <20020202005621.841F4406A@i8k.babbleon.org>
In-Reply-To: <3C5B3225.F04B9B18@mindspring.com>
References:  <5F46C986-16DB-11D6-8CEC-00039359034A@mac.com> <3C5B3225.F04B9B18@mindspring.com>

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On Friday 01 February 2002 07:26 pm, Terry Lambert wrote:
> > >>      foo_enable="NO"
> > >
> > > ipfilter_enable="YES"
> > > firewall_enable="NO"
> >
> >         natd_enable="NO"
> >         natd_interface="fxp0"
> >         inetd_enable="NO"
> >         inetd_program="/usr/sbin/inetd"
> >         foo_enable="YES/NO"
> >         foo_enable="NO"
>
> Who is a GTK hacker?
>
> Does someone want to write a "registry editor" program?

Yuch.  Why?

>
> The point of the program would be to edit the "FreeBSD
> Registry", rc.conf, and make it look just like the Windows
> Registry in the editor, using "_" as the implied path
> component/terminal component (key) seperator.

You are surely insane.  Or trying to make a point which isn't true, which is 
pretty similar.

> Then we can all be honest with ourselves that the only
> difference between it an the Windows Registry is that
> the Windows registry is accessible/modifiable from
> kernel mode, and the path component and key names.

No, there's are enormous differences:

- There's a well-known plain-text file so it can be readily backed up and 
restored.
- There is not a single point of failure for all progams; it only controls 
basic system functions and services, it does not control applications, so if 
it fails, your applications aren't all screwed up, and if your applications 
screw up terribly they can't corrupt your basic system.

Indeed, the lack of an API to *write* to /etc/rc.conf is one of it's greatest 
strengths: It is far less vulnerable to major corruption if things go nutty.



>
> You can start with:
>
> My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\natd
>
> 		Name		Data
> 		-----------	---------------------------------
> 		enable		NO
> 		interface	fxp0
>
> My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\inetd
>
> 		Name		Data
> 		-----------	---------------------------------
> 		enable		NO
> 		program		/usr/sbin/inetd
>
> etc.
>
> If you want to get ambitious:
>
> o	Make "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" an alias for your node name,
> 	and include your node name in the list.
>
> o	Call it "localhost", if you are feeling too guilty
> 	about calling it "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE".
>
> o	Make the tool operate on node names other than
> 	"localhost", so you can do remote administration
> 	of configuration files on a cluster of FreeBSD
> 	boxes
>
> o	Add more subkeys; perhaps it should not be just
>
> 		My Computer\localhost\inetd
>
> 	but
>
> 		My Computer\localhost\rc.conf\inetd
>
> 	letting you fold in the other files, like the
> 	inetd.conf, into "registry handlers", e.g.:
>
> 		My Computer\localhost\inetd.conf\telnet
>
> 		enable		NO
> 		sockettype	stream
> 		protocol	tcp
> 		wait		NO
> 		user		root
> 		program		/usr/libexec/telnetd
>
> 	etc..
>
> o	Support sysctls in the HKEY_DYN_DATA and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
> 	sections (for those that can go into loader.rc).
>
> Sure, people would be annoyed to find out that they had been
> moving towards an idea that Microsoft had developed, but
> wouldn't this be a fun tweak to people's tails?
>
> 8-) 8-) 8-)
>
> -- Terry
>
> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message

-- 
Brian T. Schellenberger . . . . . . .   bts@wnt.sas.com (work)
Brian, the man from Babble-On . . . .   bts@babbleon.org (personal)
                                ME -->  http://www.babbleon.org
http://www.eff.org   <-- GOOD GUYS -->  http://www.programming-freedom.org 

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