On Wed, Nov 20, 2002 at 04:44:40PM +0800, m.w.chang wrote:
>
> hm... i think the only option is for me to hack the kernel source my
> self..hoho.. anyway, I repeat: I just want the house, no lock.
All of the metaphors and analogies are cute, but they obscure the
basic point: even if you create your own Linux distribution, you
won't get rid of all those pesky security mechanisms without
hacking the kernel source and a lot of applications. Such fundamental
changes are required that the result wouldn't be Linux.
> And I see a value for a demilitarized linux. In fact, the kernel should
> have claer docuemnts about all the security hooks if it's to be accepted
> by the world. Then every government can design her own security schemes
> around the kernel.
All right, I've been patient long enough. I *don't* see a value for
an unsecure Linux. Perhaps the greatest disservice that Microsoft
and other purveyors of PC operating systems have done is create the
perception that security isn't important. News flash: operating systems
that *don't* have access controls and related security accoutrements
are the *exception*, not the rule.
The kernel *does* have "clear documents about all of the security hooks."
The authoritative "document" is the source code itself. Beyond that,
those security features that you stubbornly refuse to accept are mandated
by ISO, ANSI, and IEEE specifications about what constitutes a proper
operating system. Every government *has* designed security schemes
around Linux and Unix kernels -- the United States' National Security
Agency even released their own enhanced version of Linux with additional
security.
At the end of the day, though, I'm persuaded that you simply don't
understand or refust to accept that security and access control are
intrinsic to Linux and Unix. These features are tightly integrated
into the OS, not appended as an afterthought. They are pervasive.
If you rip it all out, you don't have a *nix kernel anymore, but
something altogether different. If you don't like it, damnit, don't
use Linux.
Furthermore, people who sit on the sidelines and say "We should
do this" piss me off. Just for a change, try this: "We should; I will."
And, finally, while I'm ranting, the proper pronoun is "its," not
"her." As in, "Then every government can design *its* own security
schemes around the kernel."
Kurt
--
Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently
there must be a beverage.
-- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers"
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