I've been silent on this, but....

On May 6, 2004, at 9:54 PM, Will Hill wrote:
> systems.  People like John Ashcroft already think they own the 
> information.
>
Hmm... I smell a democrat on the list...  (I'm a libertarian, so I 
think republicans AND democrats get it wrong... :-)
>
> it's name or creation date.  The patron could be given a temporary 
> name and
> password that they can change with reasonable instruction.  Anyone 
> breaking
>
I'm sorry, but I find that most users in the general populace don't 
even know when to single click and when to double click.  I think 
you're overestimating the general patronage of libraries.
>
> Help me out, what am I missing?  I understand that giving people shell
> accounts increases vulnerability.  I know that sophisticated users can 
> use
> local exploits to gain root.  What I don't see is the harm in it that 
> merits
> the loss of all that can be had.  It seems that a system can be 
> designed that
> assumes it will be broken anyway and protect the things that will be 
> lost
> before it happens.
>
You are forgetting the overhead of all of this.  Most people that use a 
computer at a library just want to get on a web browser and check their 
hotmail account or look up  abook on amazon.  They really don't want 
much more...  Why add all the overhead of maintaining user accounts?  I 
understand the advantages of people having their own account, but I 
don't think it is really necessary.

>
> On Thursday 06 May 2004 07:43 pm, John Hebert wrote:
>> The term "hax0r heaven" comes to mind here.
>>
>> C'mon Will, are you serious? Libraries are very
>> concerned with the legal issues concerning information
>> technology and privacy. Linux is not as secure as you
>> might think, especially if someone has local access to
>> your machine.
>>
>> Let me put it this way: why don't you put one of your
>> Linux boxes outside of your firewall and then post a
>> message to alt.warez.never.enough.drive.space that you
>> are offering free accounts? I'm sure you will learn a
>> lot.
>>
>>
>
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