Subject: Linux-Misc Digest #566
From: Digestifier <Linux-Misc-Request@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>
To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Date:     Wed, 19 Jan 94 01:13:13 EST

Linux-Misc Digest #566, Volume #1                Wed, 19 Jan 94 01:13:13 EST

Contents:
  Re: Term == SLIP ? (Larry Doolittle)
  Re: Global Alert For All: Jesus is Coming Soon (Larry Doolittle)
  Re: Re^2: PS/2 Mouse (Jonathan Miner)
  Re: Global Alert For All: Jesus is Coming Soon
  Re: Q: Serial port using IRQ 5 (Ian Struble)
  Re: Global Alert For All: Jesus is Coming Soon (Alan Cox)
  Re: inventory of sources (Alan Cox)
  Re: Japanese Extension to Linux, ideal for mule (multilingual emacs) users (Charles Denny)
  Re: Any way to watch a tty port? (Shannon Nelson)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.security.unix
From: doolitt@cebaf4.cebaf.gov (Larry Doolittle)
Subject: Re: Term == SLIP ?
Reply-To: doolitt@cebaf4.cebaf.gov (Larry Doolittle)
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 20:35:44 GMT

In article <2hgvuv$65h@thermal.ceas.rochester.edu>,
dela@thermal.ceas.rochester.edu (Del Armstrong) writes:
> In article <2h6qgp$2ok@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>
uknf@rzstud1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (Olaf Titz) writes:
> >In article <2h1tb3$koi@girtab.usc.edu>,
> >
> >term runs completely in user mode. This means, any user running term
> >can not do any more damage than without term. It also means, any user
> >can *install* term and this doesn't need any support by the
> >administration.
> 
> This is all true. 

Agreed here, too.

> But that doesn't mean that system administrators should just ignore or
> blindly encourage the use of term. Term provides the ability for a
> user to make his/her Linux system accessible over the internet,
> including providing ftp and telnet access. This means that an
> insecurely run Linux system, running term, is now a great back door
> into your system.

Come again?  Sure, a cracker can use the "mainframe" as a back door
from the internet into a loosely secured Linux box running term,
but that is no skin off the sysadmin of the mainframe.  The worst
case scenario is they can connect back in to the mainframe with
the priviledge of the Linux-box-sysadmin, and do damage to that
poor schmuck's files.  The security system of the mainframe
is *not* compromised.  If a cracker can spoof the system via
Linux and term, it is because there are other holes as well
that do not require that channel.  I suppose it *could* provide
a break in the obvious audit trail for failed crack attempts.

Note that many mainframes are, in my experience, abysmal in
performance compared to a well fleshed out Linux box - maybe
that has something to do with typical load averages :-).
I also subscribe to the notion that Linux will soon be one
of the *more* secure OS's on the net, since it tends to run
relatively recent (bug-fixed) versions of code.  It would be
foolish to think that the current typical Linux installation
is tight, though.  I avoid publicizing the net.address of my
Linux box for this reason, as a short term STO hack until the
net code is more reliable and I understand more details of its
security issues.

> Linux and term are great tools. Linux is the best thing to happen to
> computing since they invented the 0 and the 1. But like any really
> powerful tool, those who use it need to be educated on how to use it
> safely. Otherwise they'll become a threat either to themselves or you.

Rah!  Rah!  "Get a Real OS.  Get Linux."

                   - Larry Doolittle  doolittle@cebaf.gov

------------------------------

Crossposted-To: alt.flame
From: doolitt@cebaf4.cebaf.gov (Larry Doolittle)
Subject: Re: Global Alert For All: Jesus is Coming Soon
Reply-To: doolitt@cebaf4.cebaf.gov (Larry Doolittle)
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 21:22:31 GMT

In article <1994Jan18.151015.15716@thelake.mn.org>, steve@thelake.mn.org
(Steve Yelvington) writes:
> 
> When He gets here, I hope He does something about idiots who post the same
> off-topic drivel to every newsgroup.
> 
> Maybe one of those Old Testament plagues would do the trick.
> 
> Followups to alt.flame.

I have to assume that this "idiot" is really some poor schmuck
of an undergrad who left his terminal logged in.  There must
be an ftp site where you can get meaningless-drivel-flame-bait
to send in cases like this.  This "Jesus is coming soon" post
is only unique in that usually the perpetrator limits himself
(yes, being sexist - probably an accurate guess, though) to
posting to half a dozen newsgroups.  This one went out to
about 1800 newsgroups.

Moral of this story: don't leave yourself logged in when you
walk away from a public terminal!

             - Larry Doolittle   doolittle@cebaf.gov

------------------------------

From: miner@Rapnet.Sanders.Lockheed.Com (Jonathan Miner)
Subject: Re: Re^2: PS/2 Mouse
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 94 14:52:03 GMT

In article <1994Jan14.173323.13435@Rapnet.Sanders.Lockheed.Com>, I wrote:
> 
> It is on my Packard Bell Legend 1166, running XFree86 v1.3
>

I just upgraded from SLS 1.03 to Slackware 1.1.1.  The mouse still
works for XFree86 2.0.  But not is quirky for selection. BTW, selection
never worked under SLS.

-- 
| Jonathan Miner                       | Run Linux, model the
| miner@rapnet.sanders.lockheed.com    | Boston & Maine in HO scale,
| 603-885-2438 <voice> 1480 <fax>      | And always ski downhill...
#include <std/disclaimer.h>

------------------------------

From: jwest@jwest.ecen.okstate.edu ()
Subject: Re: Global Alert For All: Jesus is Coming Soon
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 20:09:12 GMT

This was apparently sent to *every* news-group this guy had access to, 
so most likely only direct email flames will ever be read by him 
(I know, I was one of the first to post a flame).  I think email to his 
site postmaster might be the best response. (Although posting dirty 
word was *such* fun.)

Jim

_________________
Jim West
Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Oklahoma State University
jwest@master.ceat.okstate.edu

------------------------------

From: istruble@netcom.com (Ian Struble)
Subject: Re: Q: Serial port using IRQ 5
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 16:40:18 GMT

Thanks for all the help.  I ended up grabbing setserial off of sunsite and 
now everyone is happy with their irq's.  I have even passed this info on to
a few other people already.  So it is going to good use :)


Ian

-- 
                                             istruble@netcom.com

------------------------------

From: iiitac@swan.pyr (Alan Cox)
Subject: Re: Global Alert For All: Jesus is Coming Soon
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 19:18:24 GMT

In article <1994Jan18.010617.11072@cs.cornell.edu> mdw@cs.cornell.edu (Matt Welsh) writes:
>In article <2hf9lk$su8@orion.cc.andrews.edu> clarence@orion.cc.andrews.edu (Clarence L. Thomas IV) writes:
>>The human race
>>has trampled on God's Constitution, as given in Exodus 20:1-17 (King James
>>Version Bible), and Jesus is coming to set things right. These rapidly
>>accelerating signs are an indication that Jesus is coming soon (Matthew 24).
>
>That's good. Maybe Jesus can fix the bugs in the NET-2 code.
If he can then please send him along. Unless of course he is cunningly
disguised as the large bunch of people who keep sending me patches.
Every one a saviour ...

------------------------------

From: iiitac@swan.pyr (Alan Cox)
Subject: Re: inventory of sources
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 19:15:33 GMT

In article <ARA.94Jan17122427@camelot.ai.mit.edu> ara@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Allan Adler) writes:
>
>In the SLS distribution I have (I don't know about the others),
>there is a kind of inventory of packages in the install directory,
>but there is not an accompanying inventory of the places where one
>can find the sources of these packages. I think this would be a 
>useful addition since the packages themselves often do not contain 
>enough information to enable one to figure out what is going wrong
>when something goes wrong. 
Slackware has a mirror of all the disks holding the sources to the
packages of the disks. It also has a great de-installer.
>
>One could, of course, go a step further and have an optional
>expanded form of the distribution that actually includes complete
>source code for ALL software in the distribution.
The slackware one appears complete - although I have no urge to download
it _ALL_ just to find out

Alan


------------------------------

From: cdenny@dellgate.us.dell.com (Charles Denny)
Subject: Re: Japanese Extension to Linux, ideal for mule (multilingual emacs) users
Date: 18 Jan 1994 22:20:01 GMT

C I I Project <butta1@crsa.bu.edu> writes:

[Text Deleted]

>  If your purpose is using the mule under Linux, using JE ( Linux
>Japanese Extensions) is easier way. JE includes binary files of Mule,
>Nemacs, Wnn, Canna, sj3, Japanese Tex, some tools for japanese
>language, etc, so you don't need to compile them. Installing JE is
>easy just like installing SLS.
                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  I haven't looked at this package yet (still configuring Xwindows),
but has anyone gotten this running on any other distribution set other
than SLS?  I noticed it uses SLS's sysinstall program and since I'm
running TAMU, it looks as if I'll have to mess with the install.

Just curious,

CDenny

>                                                       MIYATA Yasuhiko

>======================================================================
>     Chao lab.,Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 
>                      Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
>               E-mail : yasuhiko@chao.elect.chuo-u.ac.jp  


>--
>Mail submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu
>PLEASE remember Keywords: and a short description of the software.

------------------------------

From: snelson@ptdca2.intel.com (Shannon Nelson)
Crossposted-To: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.programmer
Subject: Re: Any way to watch a tty port?
Date: 19 Jan 1994 01:06:06 GMT

In article <CJr8G8.2z2@cuug.ab.ca> barkers@cuug.ab.ca (Scott Barker) writes:
>Is there any way for a program to observe everything which occurs at a tty
>port? I'm trying to figure out how my UPS converses with the supplied UNIX
>SVR4 software, so that I can write my own daemon for it under linux. I need to
>be able to tell how the port is configured, and what signals are passed back
>and forth. I figured that I could set up some sort of pipe to watch data flow,
>but that doesn't help me with the port configuration (ioctl's).
>
>Any ideas?
>

Try using truss on the UPS monitor program.  I've used it for similar
peeking into what other programs are doing.  It will tell you of all the OS
calls and their arguments.  Either truss the currently running program
(truss -p <pid>) or start the program under truss (truss upsdaemon).  There
are various arguments that affect the output printed.


Good luck,
sln
-- 
==============================================================================
Shannon Nelson              Portland Technology Development, Intel Corp.
snelson@ptd.intel.com       (503) 642-8149      I don't speak for Intel
                  Parents can't afford to be squeemish.

------------------------------


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