From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Dec 25 00:37:01 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7904516A4CE for ; Sat, 25 Dec 2004 00:37:01 +0000 (GMT) Received: from smtp.des.no (flood.des.no [217.116.83.31]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 321DD43D48 for ; Sat, 25 Dec 2004 00:37:01 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from des@des.no) Received: by smtp.des.no (Pony Express, from userid 666) id B1722530C; Sat, 25 Dec 2004 01:36:59 +0100 (CET) Received: from dwp.des.no (des.no [80.203.228.37]) by smtp.des.no (Pony Express) with ESMTP id D43875308; Sat, 25 Dec 2004 01:36:31 +0100 (CET) Received: by dwp.des.no (Postfix, from userid 2602) id 8BA44B874; Sat, 25 Dec 2004 01:36:31 +0100 (CET) To: Chuck Robey References: <20041224010759.N1763@april.chuckr.org> From: des@des.no (=?iso-8859-1?q?Dag-Erling_Sm=F8rgrav?=) Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2004 01:36:31 +0100 In-Reply-To: <20041224010759.N1763@april.chuckr.org> (Chuck Robey's message of "Fri, 24 Dec 2004 01:11:04 -0500 (EST)") Message-ID: User-Agent: Gnus/5.110002 (No Gnus v0.2) Emacs/21.3 (berkeley-unix) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.1 (2004-10-22) on flood.des.no X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.1 required=5.0 tests=AWL,FORGED_RCVD_HELO autolearn=disabled version=3.0.1 cc: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: fingerprints X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2004 00:37:01 -0000 Chuck Robey writes: > Has there been any work on getting fingerprint readers working on FreeBSD? > I *really* disilked the fact that (apparently) the only fingerprint > reader is supplied via Microsoft, but beyond that, it's a USB device, > which ought to mean, a simple implementation. I guess I have to read how > USB works, but before I give too much time to it, I wanted to ask if > anyone has done anything yet. AFAIK, fingerprint readers (a) rely on a lot of proprietary, patented software to actually compare the captured fingerprint to the stored fingerprint, and (b) are ridiculously easy to fool (some have been known to read and accept latent prints left by the previous user when a plastic bag filled with warm water is pressed down on the plate). DES --=20 Dag-Erling Sm=F8rgrav - des@des.no