Adduser devel - Feb 2006 - Bug#202944: adduser: default dirmode: not world readable?

Hi,

What is the reason home directories are world readable (by default)?

Olaf

On Fri, Feb 10, 2006 at 10:57:14PM +0100, Olaf van der Spek
wrote:
> What is the reason home directories are world readable (by default)?
Historical Reasons. It has always been that way, there is a way to
change the default, and changing the default is going to cause trouble
for existing installations.

Greetings
Marc

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On Sat, Feb 11, 2006 at 10:05:55AM +0100, Olaf van der Spek
wrote:
> Marc Haber wrote:
> >On Fri, Feb 10, 2006 at 10:57:14PM +0100, Olaf van der Spek wrote:
> >>What is the reason home directories are world readable (by
default)?
> >
> >Historical Reasons. It has always been that way, there is a way to
> >change the default, and changing the default is going to cause trouble
> >for existing installations.
> 
> What kind of trouble exactly?
Many possible kinds. I haven''t bothered to think about it in detail.
> And doesn''t the default only apply to new installations?
Which would lead to inconsistent behavior in installations where both
older and newer installations mix.

I''m going to stick to policy 10.9 here and keep what has been our
default for many years. Please discuss this on -devel and/or come down
with a ruling of the tech ctte.

Greetings
Marc

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marc Haber         | "I don''t trust Computers. They | Mailadresse
im Header
Mannheim, Germany  |  lose things."    Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834
Nordisch by Nature |  How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835

Marc Haber wrote:
> On Sat, Feb 11, 2006 at 10:05:55AM +0100, Olaf van der Spek wrote:
>> Marc Haber wrote:
>>> On Fri, Feb 10, 2006 at 10:57:14PM +0100, Olaf van der Spek wrote:
>>>> What is the reason home directories are world readable (by
default)?
>>> Historical Reasons. It has always been that way, there is a way to
>>> change the default, and changing the default is going to cause
trouble
>>> for existing installations.
>> What kind of trouble exactly?
> 
> Many possible kinds. I haven''t bothered to think about it in
detail.
>> And doesn''t the default only apply to new installations?
> 
> Which would lead to inconsistent behavior in installations where both
> older and newer installations mix.
> 
> I''m going to stick to policy 10.9 here and keep what has been our
> default for many years. Please discuss this on -devel and/or come down
> with a ruling of the tech ctte.
I know there''s a debconf question for it, but that question
isn''t asked
during a default install.
Is that as intended or is the priority too low?

On Sat, Feb 11, 2006 at 02:10:39PM +0100, Olaf van der Spek
wrote:
> I know there''s a debconf question for it, but that question
isn''t asked
> during a default install.
> Is that as intended or is the priority too low?
The question is asked at medium priority, which is, according to
debconf-devel(7) appropriate for "Normal items that have reasonable
defaults", and thus the priority chosen is just fine.

I am pretty sure that the debian-installer people would _not_
appreciate another question asked during the default install. Again,
this is material for -devel, -boot or the tech ctte as the maintainer
clearly states that he thinks the package is fine.

Greetings
Marc

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marc Haber         | "I don''t trust Computers. They | Mailadresse
im Header
Mannheim, Germany  |  lose things."    Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834
Nordisch by Nature |  How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835