Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 05:05:26 -0400 From: Bill Fumerola <billf@chimesnet.com> To: Trevor Johnson <trevor@FreeBSD.org> Cc: cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org, cvs-all@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: cvs commit: ports/misc Makefile ports/misc/sh-utils Makefile distinfo pkg-comment pkg-descr pkg-plist Message-ID: <20001019050526.C37870@jade.chc-chimes.com> In-Reply-To: <200010190429.VAA79901@freefall.freebsd.org>; from trevor@FreeBSD.org on Wed, Oct 18, 2000 at 09:29:41PM -0700 References: <200010190429.VAA79901@freefall.freebsd.org>
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On Wed, Oct 18, 2000 at 09:29:41PM -0700, Trevor Johnson wrote:
> Why GNU `su' does not support the `wheel' group
> ===============================================
>
> (This section is by Richard Stallman.)
>
> Sometimes a few of the users try to hold total power over all the
> rest. For example, in 1984, a few users at the MIT AI lab decided to
> seize power by changing the operator password on the Twenex system and
> keeping it secret from everyone else. (I was able to thwart this coup
> and give power back to the users by patching the kernel, but I wouldn't
> know how to do that in Unix.)
>
> However, occasionally the rulers do tell someone. Under the usual
> `su' mechanism, once someone learns the root password who sympathizes
> with the ordinary users, he or she can tell the rest. The "wheel
> group" feature would make this impossible, and thus cement the power of
> the rulers.
>
> I'm on the side of the masses, not that of the rulers. If you are
> used to supporting the bosses and sysadmins in whatever they do, you
> might find this idea strange at first.
Evidently "free the software" == "free the root access"
--
Bill Fumerola - Network Architect, BOFH / Chimes, Inc.
billf@chimesnet.com / billf@FreeBSD.org
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