On 2013-06-03, Allen Bell <[email protected]> wrote: > No one would argue that some of the best software on the planet has come > from free software projects where the author or authors have no higher > purpose than to "do better." Additionally, the bulk of their improvements > have come from finding clever and sometimes even brilliant ways to > incorporate user requests.
This reminds me of a prominent software company that recently reverted a user-interface feature. > But sometimes, the developer ego gets involved and once they make a > decision about the "right way" to do something it becomes cast in concrete. If you have the source you have control, if you don't, you have only wishes. I run exim with a customisation, one day I'll tidy it up and contribute it. Then I won't have to mintain it. > hard-coded restriction implies that the author knows my system, my office, > my environment, my business and my needs better than I do. In fact, the > very last thing in the world that I need is a programmer trying to save me > from myself. > > Even worse, if the mere act of placing a series of ASCII characters in a > file on a disc named /var/mail/root can cause a security breech... redesign > your program or find someone better than you who can do it for you. ASCII? exim is 8-bit transparent, And what about system filters ... writing to /var/mail is not the only delivery option. it's not inconceivable that some system filterm or seive filter could remotely exploted by using a crafted message... > In my opinion, there is a special place in hell for programmers that decide > that they know best what other people need and how they should do things. OTOH: They don't call him BOFH for nothing :) > And finally, for all those of you reading this that are getting a twitch in > your backsides... > having this almost uncontrollable urge to reply... > asking why in the world I'd want to do something that YOU don't want to > do... > telling me why *I* shouldn't do what *I* want because *YOU* think it's > wrong... > telling how YOU do it because YOU found a work around... > attacking me for having the audacity to have formed a different opinion > that you... > ... you're as big a part of the problem as anyone else. If you want to deliver to /var/mail/root set up a transport to run that delivery as a different user! it's not like root is going to have trouble dealing with it if it's owned by someone else. -- ⚂⚃ 100% natural -- ## List details at https://lists.exim.org/mailman/listinfo/exim-users ## Exim details at http://www.exim.org/ ## Please use the Wiki with this list - http://wiki.exim.org/
