Good one! Thanks for sharing!
<http://about.me/shashank.computers> S.V.R.S.N. Shashank about.me/shashank.computers <http://about.me/shashank.computers> We’ve created the greatest collection of shared knowledge in history. Help protect Wikipedia. Donate now: https://donate.wikimedia.org On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 8:09 AM, Nishant Pani <[email protected]> wrote: > I was reading this book "Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll.In this he gives > an excellent explanation of the super user concept which is as follows > > > > To satisfy a hundred users at once, the computer's operating system splits > the > hardware resources much as an apartment house splits a building into many > apartments. Each apartment works independently of the others. While one > resident > may be watching TV, another talks on the phone, and a third washes dishes. > Utilities—electricity, phone service, and water—are supplied by the > apartment > complex. Every resident complains about slow service and the exorbitant > rents. > Within the computer, one user might be solving a math problem, another > sending > electronic mail to Toronto, yet a third writing a letter. The computer > utilities > are supplied by the systems software and operating system; each user > grumbles about > the unreliable software, obscure documentation, and the exorbitant costs. > Privacy within the apartment house is regulated by locks and keys. One > resident > can't enter another's apartment without a key, and (if the walls are > sturdy), one > resident's activity won't bother another. Within the computer, it's the > operating > system that ensures user privacy. You can't get into someone's area without > the > right password, and (if the operating system is fair about handing out > resources), > one user's programs won't interfere with another's. > > But apartment walls are never sturdy enough, and my neighbor's parties > thunder > into my bedroom. And my computer still slows down when there's more than > one > hundred people using it at one time. So our apartment houses need > superintendents, > and our computers need system managers, or super-users. > With a passkey, the apartment house superintendent can enter any room. From > a > privileged account, the system manager can read or modify any program or > data on > thecomputer. Privileged users bypass the operating system protections and > have the > full run of the computer. They need this power to maintain the systems > software > ("Fix the editor!"), to tune the operating system's performance ("Things > are too > slow today!"), and to let people use the computer ("Hey, give Barbara an > account."). > > Privileged users learn to tread lightly. They can't do much damage if > they're > only privileged to read files. But the super-user's license lets you change > any > part of the system— there's no protections against the super-user's mistake > s. > _______________________________________________ > Users mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.dgplug.org/listinfo.cgi/users-dgplug.org > _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.dgplug.org/listinfo.cgi/users-dgplug.org
