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Archived Messages for UNIXENV_1996@cebaf.gov: Comments to a few of Larry Dolittle's Points

Comments to a few of Larry Dolittle's Points

Rita Chambers, 804-249-7514 (CHAMBERS@CEBAF.GOV)
Mon, 01 Apr 1996 09:58:16 -0500 (EST)

>I don't see security mentioned on the page. Security is
>critical, and I hope you have plans not shown on this page
>that are well integrated with the features shown. If there
>is any chance for us to get away from replayable passwords,
>I would urge you to take it.

Our intent in this document was to focus on how the work environment
appears to the UNIX user -- and what the actual implementation will
be to accomplish that. In no way did we intend not to address
security issues. You are correct that "passwords" are a big issue
for users -- both in the sense of "where" and "how many places do
I have to change my password." I think we should include some specific
mention of this. Our intent at the moment is to move toward DCE
authentication for most usrs. We have discussed the use of smart
cards for privileged users, but I think that is impractical for
the majority of our users.

>The existing "setup" utility is a performance disaster.
>I hope you can come up with something better at the same
>time as you move to support sh and related shells.

I agree that the performance is not good at the moment, however, I
believe that the new /apps directory will improve this. At the
moment, setup really does a search through all of the site
directories, which is the big cause of the delay. In the new
configuration, it should directly access the setup file in the
/apps directory.

Rita Chambers