r* Programs Being Removed from OpenBSD -current

moonboy writes: "This post over at OpenBSD Journal tells of the r* programs (rsh, rlogin, rcopy, etc) being removed from the -current tree. Can Telnet and FTP be far behind? I say good riddance."

Comments

BSD is not dying, it's busy cleaning

[ObviousGuy]

Removing redundant, unnecessary, and potentially dangerous programs from the distro is a really good idea.

Creating the symlinks just adds complexity to a system that doesn't need it.

Re:BSD is not dying, it's busy cleaning

[sigwinch]

And, as another poster pointed out, telnet and (to a lesser extent) ftp have to be next on the chopping block.

I disagree. FTP is a fine way to serve files to anonymous clients. A lot of data traffic simply doesn't benefit (much) from security. Unless you are going to replace it with HTTP over SSL and institute a person-to-person key fingerprint distribution process, you might as well keep using FTP.

As for telnet, using it to run login shells is idiocy, but it's the only standardized way to run interactive services. It comes disabled by default, so including it is not a security risk. And when you someday need a little interactive network program *right now*, it's damn convenient. E.g., if you needed to stick a load monitor on your database server, just write a little program that talks on standard input and output, and tell telnet to use it instead of a shell. Instant results, little risk of breaking anything, and any client can access it.

Re:BSD is not dying, it's busy cleaning

[Arandir]

Perl hasn't been removed. Please read the other article. Perl is being removed from the *base* system. It is still available in the ports. It sounds like it will also be installed by default anyway, just like X11R6 (which isn't in the base system, but still installed by default).

The reasons they are getting rid of it in the base system are numerous. The top reason in my mind is that Perl is growing enormous. It's a damn useful tool, but it isn't necessary for the base system, especially with the size it's getting. If you need it, install it. Simple.

Something has been lost here...

[seraphim via]

I believe something has eluded the 'BSD is dying crowd' and the 'Perl is winbest' crowd.

For starters, BSD is not dying in my eyes. Linux is great, I love it, but it is seriously bloated. 'But seraphim,' you say, 'you are a fag man for thinking these thingz.' I have recently bought SuSE 8.0 Pro. It is terribly bloated. Its really good for a desktop machine, but for a down and dirty linux box, its just not there. I have also used Redhat 7.0-7.2. They are extremely bloated as well. Not quite to the M$ extreme, but still dangerous. Slackware is the only linux I have used that gets me feeling that I am involved in the console and that its working with me, rather than me forcing it to do things. BSD is a down and dirty OS. Its great for just digging your teeth in and tearing into. It is not your fancy pants linux distro or desktop GUI OS (i leave that up to my new iMac :D
And on the issue of Perl. Perl is not being taken out of FreeBSD. It has not been rebuked by the FreeBSD staff and shunned to the 9th circle of hell. It is, however, not included into the base install. Saving, around 40mb, i believe. Now you say 'You silly fagtrot, thats not that much.' Well, yes and no. Yes it isnt a lot when you are running BSD on a AMD 2100XP with a 80g hard drive. I , however, run my BSD on a 486 with a 800mb hard drive. Space is key to me. If i want to install perl, i simply say, 'Hey there BSD, install me some perl.' Otherwise i dont really need it.

Hopefully this will clear some things up.

Re:Interesting discussion

[evilviper]

As a BSD'er with +49 Karma, I think I can field this question.

Why post comments on Slashdot's BSD section? Slashdot is a terrible news distribution system, and even worse is the BSD section which is almost completely ignored by the admins.

The point? There are plenty of other BSD sites to discuss these things on.
http://Deadly.org for OpenBSD specific stuff.
http://BSDToday.com for more general BSD stuff.
http://www.daemonnews.org/
http://www.maximumbsd.com/
http://www.freebsdfo rums.org/
http://bsdvault.net/
http://bsdatwork. com/
http://www.bsdfreaks.nl/

And even more, lesser known sites. So my question is, why worry about the slashdot / bsd site which only gets a new bit of info every couple of weeks? There are plenty of better options which have news, tutorials, tips, etc. for those interested in BSD.

they need to make sure...

[msouth]

...that they remove "rm" last.