Usenet 1994 January/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicjanuary1994.iso/sources/std_unix/volume.24/text0065.txt

Text File | 1991-09-03 | 1.5 KB | 38 lines

Submitted-by: [e-mail] (Dan Bernstein)

[e-mail] (Chuck Karish) writes:
> >Can you name a single vendor which has a solution to the problem of a
> >secure path for installed utilities? I'm listening.
> The 1003.2 committee doesn't even see the same problem that
> Dan Bernstein does.  _CS_PATH is there for usability, not
> for security.

My apologies. Let me rephrase the question, in a way that will no longer
let you beat around the bush: Can you name a single vendor which has a
solution to the problem of a *usable* path for installed utilities? I'm
listening. And, once again: I consider every solution to this problem to
be a poor candidate for standardization, because (drum roll):

    The Market Hath Not Chosen A Solution.
    The Market Hath Hardly Even Considered The Problem.
    The Market Apparently Doth Not Even Care.

> Market forces tend to cause divergence on many technical
> points, rather than agreement.

So you're saying that free market competition is a bad thing, and that
premature standardization is a good thing. Or did I misunderstand? Or
are you claiming that a standard which doesn't reflect reality at its
inception, and which rapidly becomes obsolete, isn't premature?

---Dan

[ A couple of requests:
  1.  Can we keep the discussion civil?  It's on its way to leaving that...
  2.  The subject is only marginally relevent; could it be changed?
  I do not wish to do either of those, since the authors of the messages
  are far more capable of doing so.  Thanks, gentle readers -- mod ]

Volume-Number: Volume 24, Number 66