Default permissions

John Nilsson wrote:
> Even so, the implications of having to explicitly allow access to stuff
> you want to share is far less than the implications of unknowingly
> sharing stuff you thought was safe...

Programs that deal with private data (e.g. mail) are usually good about
using proper permissions. On a desktop system, other people who have
accounts are usually trusted individuals, and a policy of "open unless
explicitly made otherwise" is, I think, the only sensible one.

Shipping a different default merits consideration for the server
install; we might want to have adduser/homedir-permission be false by
default there.

Also, if I recall correctly, Windows XP provides a button to the effect
of 'Make home folder private' in the Control Panel/User Accounts screen.
This might be a good addition to our Preferences/About me applet,
perhaps below the 'Change Password' button.

-- 
Ivan Krstic <krstic at hcs.harvard.edu> | 0x147C722D