[techtalk] Re: techtalk digest, Vol 1 #447 - 11 msgs

[jenn at simegen.com]

Linda MacPhee-Cobb wrote:

> Hi All,
> 
> I have been painstakingly going through the lilo documentation.  I have 
> not found in the documentation, on my computer or at sunsite, a single 
> reference to this back door into my computer.  It is not even documented 
> in the source code.

What keywords are you looking for?

> The fact we have a back door that allows root access that is 
> undocumented is something I would expect from M$ not linux.
> 
> Why isn't this documented in an easy to find location?  That is very 
> troubling.  Especially since linux users scream bloody murder when back 
> doors are found in Windows.

I found it looking in 'apropos boot' then 'man bootparam' in less than
five minutes. Look for 'single user mode'.

It'll also be found under 'runlevels', possibly in 'apropos password'.


> If I wanted a computer OS that didn't need a password I would use 
> Windows 95.  One of the reasons for choosing linux was the security.  
> Right now Win2000 looks like a better option.  The only way to boot this 
> machine is from the hard drive.  I am not so stupid as to forget root 
> password, nor am I pleased that the people writing this system appear to 
> have set it up for fools.

See, the key for network security is that noone *not at the console* 
can boot the machine anyway.
 
> If there is one undocumented back door there are many.
> 
> Who are these back doors built in for?  Clearly not the users or there 
> would be documentation.

It *is* documented. I'm sure it's in any of the O'Reilly Linux
sysadmin books. It's in the man pages. 

Here's a suggestion: don't look for conspiracy when complacency, 
ignorance or apathy are better answers.
It just never *occured* to me that other people wouldn't know this
existed. I can hardly be the only one.



Jenn V.
-- 
     "Do you ever wonder if there's a whole section of geek culture
             you miss out on by being a geek?" - Dancer.

jenn at simegen.com     Jenn Vesperman     http://www.simegen.com/~jenn/