Ubuntu is under attack

[Anders Karlsson]

On 12/21/05, Bernard Peek <bap at shrdlu.com> wrote:

[snip]

> This is true but seems to be substituting one assumption for another. If
> you assume that no program will ever require a functional MTA then you
> will be caught out when a users installs such a package.

Assumptions either way is bad. And cron is broken if it doesn't depend
on an MTA . I do believe that in a default install, the breakage in
cron does not constitute a problem as the only warning you will be
missing out on is the rmic.1.gz dangling symlink.

> One sensible option, as you suggest, would be to audit all supported
> packages and reject any that require a functioning MTA. That at least
> means that Ubuntu itself isn't creating the problem.

No, we shouldn't reject them, as they are useful, but perhaps
dependencies should be looked over, like the one in bug-buddy.

> A second alternative would be to install a functioning MTA by default.
> For security reasons the default should be to handle local mail only. As
> Ubuntu currently mostly works without this I don't think any elaborate
> notification scheme is required. Perhaps a notification at logon and at
> configurable intervals defaulting to daily.

I still think that in a default install, the default notification
scheme should be something like the dbus method suggested, pop-up box
scheme like update-notifier handles things. Anyone requiring something
more sophisticated can always install the MTA they desire.

> I wonder whether a separate text-only console for root's mail messages
> would be useful?

In a default install, the user should probobly never find themselves
on a vc so this may be overkill.

Regards,

--
Anders Karlsson <trudheim at gmail.com>