<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 TRANSITIONAL//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; CHARSET=UTF-8"> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="GtkHTML/3.8.1"> </HEAD> <BODY> On Sat, 2006-01-04 at 16:29 -0600, Matthew R. Dempsky wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <PRE> > If someone writes a Linux virus (difficult) and you open it with an app > running as root, or run it from a root terminal, it could destroy your > entire system. Otherwise, the most it can destroy is your home. This is something that has always bugged me: privelege separation between root and users is primarily desirable for system administrators of multi-user machines, not single-user machines. The system files on my laptop aren't of that much importance to me. Sure, it's an inconvenience to replace them, but that's no more difficult than installing in the first place. The files in my $HOME directory are precisely the ones I'm most concerned about losing due to malice. </PRE> </BLOCKQUOTE> <PRE> </PRE> I fear you're running into a clash of cultures here. The whole UNIX mindset is centred on multi-user systems. Apparently the fact that multi-user systems are the exception these days, not the norm, has escaped them. The UNIX (and better) styles of multi-user security are fine for things like servers. Indeed they're necessary. For desktop machines, however, as you so aptly pointed out, the UNIX way of doing things is exactly ass-backwards. The stuff that's semi-trivial to replace (re-install or re-download) is protected at all costs and the stuff that's irreplaceable is given no thought whatsoever. If there were a decent backup application available a lot of this could be ameliorated. Sadly, however, the backup software that's out there for UNIX and workalikes is about as user hostile as you can get. <TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD> -- Michael T. Richter Email: ttmrichter@gmail.com, mtr1966@hotpop.com MSN: ttmrichter@hotmail.com, mtr1966@hotmail.com; YIM: michael_richter_1966; AIM: YanJiahua1966; ICQ: 241960658; Jabber: mtr1966@jabber.cn "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery." --Abraham Lincoln </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BODY> </HTML>