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Torvalds Calls OpenSUSE Security 'Too Intrusive'

Posted by Unknown on from the permission-denied dept.

jfruh writes "The balance between security and ease of use is always a tricky one to strike, and Linux distros tend to err on the side of caution. But no less a luminary than Linus Torvalds thinks openSUSE has gone too far. When his kid needed to call from school for the root password just so he could add a printer to a laptop, that's when Linus decided things had gone off the rails."

11 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Only root? by busyqth · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bah! Back in the day we recompiled the kernel to add a printer!
    AND WE LIKED IT THAT WAY!!

    1. Re:Only root? by Toe,+The · · Score: 5, Funny

      You mean sneakernet? That's nothing.
      Back in the day, we had to manually place dots onto the paper using a handheld carbon-marking device.
      On the plus side, it did have an undo function built right into the final product.

    2. Re:Only root? by busyqth · · Score: 5, Informative

      Back in the day postscript didn't exist.
      "lp0" stands for "Line Printer 0" -- you know, 132 columns, tractor feed, green-and-white-striped paper, massive clattering mechanical wheels spinning.
      Now GET OFF MY LAWN!

  2. Too much root is not a good thing by Toe,+The · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I see this on Macs a lot. If you want to install anything, you have to type an administrator's password.

    In theory, that's great. But in effect, you are giving that installer root access. So if I understand correctly, that installer could be putting any amount of spyware (or whatever) into your computer and nearly perfectly cover its tracks.

    Otoh, many Mac apps are distributed as disk images, where you simply drag them from the image to your drive, and that's it. No password at all. If you're going to use pre-rolled software, that certainly seems more trustworthy. But of course, it is a lot more complicated of a process for the average user to be able to ever understand.

  3. What an ass by MatthiasF · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He could have just added the user to the sudo group and been done.

    But no, he had to go harping on everyone on bug lists and social media rants to put people down, even suggesting whoever made the system should die.

    What an ass.

    1. Re:What an ass by Rhacman · · Score: 5, Informative

      If I understand correctly this in effect would be giving that user root priviledges. I think his complaint was that an ordinary task like adding a printer required that level of priviledge, not that it was inconvinient to do. It sounded like he wanted to administer his childs laptop without giving them free reign over it.

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    2. Re:What an ass by Hatta · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why should he have to do that? Why isn't it sufficient to add the user to the 'lp' group? There's no reason that printing should require root access at all.

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    3. Re:What an ass by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why should he have to do that? Why isn't it sufficient to add the user to the 'lp' group? There's no reason that printing should require root access at all.

      Why does an administrator have to add anyone to anything in order to do a commonplace task on a machine that is really a commodity item?
       
      Not that I have read his rants but I get where he is coming from.

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    4. Re:What an ass by John+Hasler · · Score: 5, Informative

      If I understand correctly this in effect would be giving that user root priviledges.

      You don't. The whole point of sudo is that it gives you fine-grained control over the privileges of each user.

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    5. Re:What an ass by chuckinator · · Score: 5, Informative

      Go in to the linux box you supposedly own and type 'man 5 sudoers'. You can specify which programs a user can run as root with fine grained controls that only allow specific users or specific groups to run only specific programs. It is not an all or nothing tool even if a majority of lazy sysadmins use it that way. If it didn't have that level control, there would be no point in using it over /bin/su.

  4. My hypothesis... by brennanw · · Score: 5, Funny

    Linus Torvalds is the Harlan Ellison of Linux.

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