Re: Home Directory as the Desktop?
Yes, granted it's not too much more insecure either way (perhaps more secure in a non-standard place, as a script kiddie is going to attempt to write to a set path. But since the $HOME directory is in your shell path, the /HOME/Desktop is not, that's going to also allow them to write to all adjacent directories ./ssh or whatever else is owned by you, or under $HOME, like public_html for instance. a few other things also, not much worth mentioning, having to do with Firefox, plugins, etc. On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 8:43 PM, Dazed_75 wrote: > > > On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 6:59 PM, Lisa Kachold wrote: > >> http://lwn.net/Articles/319938/ >> http://www.geekzone.co.nz/foobar/6229 >> >> Thanks for the references. I pretty much understand the issues discussed > although I am less sure I understand how having $HOME/Desktop is more secure > than having $HOME being used AS the desktop folder. Probably due to where > the malware creator is able to get the autostarted file placed. That > ability seems the same to me regardless of which directory is being used as > the desktop folder. However, since I want it to be $HOME/Desktop I guess I > am satisfied with my current degree of understanding though I will hold the > references to reread another time. > > In any case, my original question has not been answered. I do believe I > have found the answer but will include that in another post. > > > -- > Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry > > --- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- www.obnosis.com (503)754-4452 "Contradictions do not exist." A. Rand --- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
Re: Home Directory as the Desktop?
On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 6:59 PM, Lisa Kachold wrote: > http://lwn.net/Articles/319938/ > http://www.geekzone.co.nz/foobar/6229 > > Thanks for the references. I pretty much understand the issues discussed although I am less sure I understand how having $HOME/Desktop is more secure than having $HOME being used AS the desktop folder. Probably due to where the malware creator is able to get the autostarted file placed. That ability seems the same to me regardless of which directory is being used as the desktop folder. However, since I want it to be $HOME/Desktop I guess I am satisfied with my current degree of understanding though I will hold the references to reread another time. In any case, my original question has not been answered. I do believe I have found the answer but will include that in another post. -- Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry --- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
Re: Home Directory as the Desktop?
http://lwn.net/Articles/319938/ http://www.geekzone.co.nz/foobar/6229 On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 5:16 PM, Dazed_75 wrote: > > > On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Lisa Kachold wrote: > >> Huge security issue also. See former messages in the archive from me >> related to this, ahem, feature. >> >> >> >> -- >> www.obnosis.com (503)754-4452 >> "Contradictions do not exist." A. Rand >> >> What should I search for in the archives Lisa? I don't remember seeing it > in those of your posts that I read (you go over my head a lot :). > > > -- > Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry > > --- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- www.obnosis.com (503)754-4452 "Contradictions do not exist." A. Rand --- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
Re: Home Directory as the Desktop?
On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Lisa Kachold wrote: > Huge security issue also. See former messages in the archive from me > related to this, ahem, feature. > > > > -- > www.obnosis.com (503)754-4452 > "Contradictions do not exist." A. Rand > > What should I search for in the archives Lisa? I don't remember seeing it in those of your posts that I read (you go over my head a lot :). -- Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry --- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
Re: Home Directory as the Desktop?
On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 5:09 PM, Charles Jones < charles.jo...@ciscolearning.org> wrote: > Dazed_75 wrote: > > What genius decided that the users home directory should also BE the > [gnome] Desktop? Doing so means that every file and directory in a users > home directory appears on the Desktop. One does not notice it on finishing > the install because there are no visible files there. Makes me wonder how > many people we did installs for at the installfest are now being bothered by > this weird setup. > > I do not know how widespread this is but I found a number of discussions > about it on the web. A scratch install of ubuntu 9.04 seems to do this > though an upgrade does not. I THINK the change is related to the new > install having a ~/.config/ that looks like: > > # This file is written by xdg-user-dirs-update >> # If you want to change or add directories, just edit the line you're >> # interested in. All local changes will be retained on the next run >> # Format is XDG_xxx_DIR="$HOME/yyy", where yyy is a shell-escaped >> # homedir-relative path, or XDG_xxx_DIR="/yyy", where /yyy is an >> # absolute path. No other format is supported. >> # >> XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/" > > instead of > >> -- >> # >> XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop" >> XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Desktop" >> XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/Templates" >> XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/Public" >> XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/Documents" >> XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/Music" >> XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/Pictures" >> XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/Videos" > > > I don't know how or why that happened, but I also noted the absence of > .bashrc and .profile which I thought were supposed to be made (copied from > /etc) by default for every user? This almost makes me wonder if the change > was intentional or possibly poorly vetted. > > Anyone have any inside info about this? > > I've never seen that...my Gnome desktops has always been under > $HOME/Desktop. > > Yes, me too and on other distributions. Hence my question. -- Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry --- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
Re: Home Directory as the Desktop?
Huge security issue also. See former messages in the archive from me related to this, ahem, feature. On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 5:07 PM, Dazed_75 wrote: > What genius decided that the users home directory should also BE the > [gnome] Desktop? Doing so means that every file and directory in a users > home directory appears on the Desktop. One does not notice it on finishing > the install because there are no visible files there. Makes me wonder how > many people we did installs for at the installfest are now being bothered by > this weird setup. > > I do not know how widespread this is but I found a number of discussions > about it on the web. A scratch install of ubuntu 9.04 seems to do this > though an upgrade does not. I THINK the change is related to the new > install having a ~/.config/ that looks like: > > # This file is written by xdg-user-dirs-update >> # If you want to change or add directories, just edit the line you're >> # interested in. All local changes will be retained on the next run >> # Format is XDG_xxx_DIR="$HOME/yyy", where yyy is a shell-escaped >> # homedir-relative path, or XDG_xxx_DIR="/yyy", where /yyy is an >> # absolute path. No other format is supported. >> # >> XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/" >> XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/" > > instead of > >> -- >> # >> XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop" >> XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Desktop" >> XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/Templates" >> XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/Public" >> XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/Documents" >> XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/Music" >> XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/Pictures" >> XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/Videos" > > > I don't know how or why that happened, but I also noted the absence of > .bashrc and .profile which I thought were supposed to be made (copied from > /etc) by default for every user? This almost makes me wonder if the change > was intentional or possibly poorly vetted. > > Anyone have any inside info about this? > -- > Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry > > --- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- www.obnosis.com (503)754-4452 "Contradictions do not exist." A. Rand --- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
Re: Home Directory as the Desktop?
Dazed_75 wrote: What genius decided that the users home directory should also BE the [gnome] Desktop? Doing so means that every file and directory in a users home directory appears on the Desktop. One does not notice it on finishing the install because there are no visible files there. Makes me wonder how many people we did installs for at the installfest are now being bothered by this weird setup. I do not know how widespread this is but I found a number of discussions about it on the web. A scratch install of ubuntu 9.04 seems to do this though an upgrade does not. I THINK the change is related to the new install having a ~/.config/ that looks like: # This file is written by xdg-user-dirs-update # If you want to change or add directories, just edit the line you're # interested in. All local changes will be retained on the next run # Format is XDG_xxx_DIR="$HOME/yyy", where yyy is a shell-escaped # homedir-relative path, or XDG_xxx_DIR="/yyy", where /yyy is an # absolute path. No other format is supported. # XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/" XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/" XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/" XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/" XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/" XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/" XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/" XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/" instead of -- # XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop" XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Desktop" XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/Templates" XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/Public" XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/Documents" XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/Music" XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/Pictures" XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/Videos" I don't know how or why that happened, but I also noted the absence of .bashrc and .profile which I thought were supposed to be made (copied from /etc) by default for every user? This almost makes me wonder if the change was intentional or possibly poorly vetted. Anyone have any inside info about this? I've never seen that...my Gnome desktops has always been under $HOME/Desktop. --- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
