Subject: Re: bin/2905: setting environment vars from login
To: None <current-users@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Christian Kuhtz <kuhtz@ix.netcom.com>
List: current-users
Date: 11/06/1996 13:10:00
Are you willing to bet your life on the fact that there will not be an  
exploitation of this feature?

Regardless of how many times I and others have asked you for it, you will  
not answer certain questions which have been asked.  You rather flame me in  
private;  trust me, I can take it publically.

1.) Show me a situation where this is an absolutely neccessary feature,  
which cannot be implemented with current tools.

2.) Why does this feature have to be available by default?

3.) Why do you want to avoid forcing RTFM to enable this feature and  
subsequently cause awareness?

An example for another dangerous environment variable is IFS.  I don't  
know for how long ppl have been preaching that it should be reset  
immediately within a script.  However, human nature prevents this preaching  
from being successful and you won't accept that this world isn't perfect  
but rather accuse others of living in a dreamworld.

> The only *real* risk we're adding is that measured by adding one more
> not-so-obvious interdependency in the system sources.

That's what we've been arguing against all along.

--
Christian Kuhtz <kuhtz@ix.netcom.com>, office: ckuhtz@paranet.com
Network/UNIX Specialist for Paranet, Inc. http://www.paranet.com/
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