Installing a compiler by default

[Rocco Stanzione]

On Thursday 08 June 2006 15:30, Florian Zeitz wrote:
>My personal opinion on the security mater is, that on a default desktop
>install ubuntu's no open ports policy is used, so there won't be any
>possibility for attackers to get in anyway.
>Ubuntu-server should certainly not have gcc installed by default.

One of the most important aspects of security is security-in-depth.  Our 
security policy would not withstand much scrutiny - or many attacks - if we 
abandoned all other security considerations under the false assumption that 
the no-open-ports policy makes us completely secure.

Installing a compiler introduces security concerns in that it makes some 
automated attacks a little easier - but not having a compiler doesn't truly 
make a system more secure.  At any rate, it's a tradeoff, and we're 
discussing whether it's worth it.  My opinion is that it is worth it on a 
desktop system, but not on a server system.

Rocco