From owner-freebsd-hackers Tue Sep 26 15:23:06 1995 Return-Path: owner-hackers Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.6.12/8.6.6) id PAA26931 for hackers-outgoing; Tue, 26 Sep 1995 15:23:06 -0700 Received: from UUCP-GW.CC.UH.EDU (root@UUCP-GW.CC.UH.EDU [129.7.1.11]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.6.12/8.6.6) with SMTP id PAA26910 for ; Tue, 26 Sep 1995 15:22:57 -0700 Received: from Taronga.COM by UUCP-GW.CC.UH.EDU with UUCP id AA28796 (5.67a/IDA-1.5 for hackers@FreeBSD.ORG); Tue, 26 Sep 1995 16:56:09 -0500 Received: (from peter@localhost) by bonkers.taronga.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) id PAA20580 for hackers@FreeBSD.ORG; Tue, 26 Sep 1995 15:04:11 -0500 From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) Message-Id: <199509262004.PAA20580@bonkers.taronga.com> Subject: Re: ports startup scripts To: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 15:04:11 -0500 (CDT) In-Reply-To: <199509261340.JAA16927@healer.com> from "Coranth Gryphon" at Sep 26, 95 09:40:57 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 1090 Sender: owner-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk > From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) > > +> Would you consider it easy to fix if they renumbered all the scripts in > > +> the rc3.d directory? > > That's a lot less likely than moving things around in a file, since it's > > easier to do. It's almost impossible to accidentally renumber files. > This is pointless. A user with an editor or a command prompt will > always be able to screw up an automated system. I won't even > try designing one that cannot be screwed up. No operating system > out there has anything close to that. It used to be possible for root to write to directories. A determined sysadmin no longer has that opportunity to mess the system up. A naive sysadmin is no longer likely to create orphan files with a misdirected "cat". > So arguments based upon the fact that that a determined sysadmin > can screw up the automation process are unresolvable. I can't correlate your phrase "a determined sysadmin" with my use of the word "accidentally". Perhaps you are mistaken in your assumption that I am speaking of protecting the system from deliberate abuse?