Gentoo Archives: gentoo-dev

From: Allen Parker <allenp@×××.org>
To: gentoo-dev@l.g.o
Subject: FW: [gentoo-dev] suggestion: virtual/telnet
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 03:19:06
Message-Id: E1AaQuV-0000uX-NK@smtp.gentoo.org
1 Sorry, the first time I sent it, I hit the wrong reply button.
2
3 > -----Original Message-----
4 > From: Allen Parker [mailto:allenp@×××.org]
5 > Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:32 PM
6 > To: 'Ciaran McCreesh'
7 > Subject: RE: [gentoo-dev] suggestion: virtual/telnet
8 >
9 > I must pipe up on this one. When a user asks for "telnet" they're usually
10 > not aware of the security risks involved. (kinda makes me wonder why it's
11 > installed by default on Debian :-\) Probably the best way to handle this
12 > is to create a virtual/telnet and add a default package that when
13 > uninstalled displays a basic readme saying telnet isn't secure and why,
14 > asks the user if they still want to do it, and THEN after they've
15 > confirmed that they do in fact want telnet, allow them to emerge whichever
16 > telnet they choose.
17 >
18 > So, to re-state because I'm not even sure what I said up there:
19 > Create package block-telnet that does as it's name implies, blocks the
20 > virtual/telnet package so that no other telnetd/telnet client may be
21 > emerged without removing it first.
22 > Setup block-telnet to install something like /usr/share/doc/telnet-readme
23 > (the contents of the same thing you read when you remove block-telnet) and
24 > upon unmerge fire off a simple shell script that less's the same file
25 > (hidden) that is telnet-readme with a yes/no choice saying are you sure
26 > you wish to remove me?
27 > Add block-telnet -> virtual/telnet as a virtual/telnet blocker by default
28 > for all arch/stage/devel profiles under system instead of world and make
29 > it a default package (like nano) for Gentoo 2004.
30 >
31 > It honestly seems to me that this would probably take any dev minutes to
32 > set the virtual up this way and it would also allow very fast, short
33 > answers in regards to getting questions on telnet:
34 >
35 > Eg:
36 > User: how do I install telnet?
37 > Dev: emerge unmerge block-telnet ... and read what it says.
38 > User: thanks for your help!
39 >
40 > That's my 2/100ths of a monetary unit.
41 > Allen Parker
42 >
43 > > -----Original Message-----
44 > > From: Ciaran McCreesh [mailto:ciaranm@g.o]
45 > > Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2003 6:06 PM
46 > > To: gentoo-dev@l.g.o
47 > > Subject: Re: [gentoo-dev] suggestion: virtual/telnet
48 > >
49 > > On Sat, 27 Dec 2003 23:03:23 +0100 Spider <spider@g.o> wrote:
50 > > | Well,
51 > > | this is something that a lot of users ask about (how do I get
52 > > | telnet?)
53 > >
54 > > Wouldn't it be better to educate the users to get rid of that 'type in
55 > > emerge telnet to install telnet' mentality?
56 > >
57 > > --
58 > > Ciaran McCreesh
59 > > Mail: ciaranm at gentoo.org
60 > > Web: http://dev.gentoo.org/~ciaranm
61
62
63
64 --
65 gentoo-dev@g.o mailing list

Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-dev] suggestion: virtual/telnet Jason Wever <weeve@g.o>
RE: [gentoo-dev] suggestion: virtual/telnet Allen Parker <allenp@×××.org>