[ale] Sunday 05-22-05 6PM RUN-AS-ROOT CHALLENGE

[ChangingLINKS.com]

On Wednesday May 18 2005 12:45, Jerry Yu wrote:
> I think you are the one who needs to go back through the thread, Drew.
> The very need to restore marks the failure of any system (together with
> your its-100%-safe-for-me claim), while the risk of such failure can be
> mitigated greatly by a not-root-all-the-time practice.

That's your view. Some people have the view that is it a SIN to reboot.
I don't. I reboot OFTEN. If my Internet connection seems slow, I reboot the 
router and sometimes the machine. (I could go into a long list of reasons 
why, but generally, it was prompted by Red Hat's persistent print server and 
a weird buffer problem with my print server/router).

I reboot if a process seems slow. I reboot sometimes, just to reboot. 
I am a rebooter. Sometimes, (like when I go on vacation)  I even shut the 
computer down and unplug it. When a user on my LAN has a problem, the first 
thing I shout from the other room is "REBOOT IT!" The way my system is set 
up, that usually fixes everything.

To me, that is not failure. It marks success. I have no need to prove that I 
can run a system for many days without rebooting (although I do). I have no 
need to secure my job by setting up (or allowing problems) that only I can 
fix. Instead, I am focused on productivity and total uptime.

Also, I view restoration as the ultimate end of the argument. If I can prove 
that I can reboot away all of my problems, and that gives me the about the 
same uptime and security that the "expertz" on this list get - then, again, I 
see that as a success. Not a failure.

Some of you pride yourselves in auditing everything, network connections, 
programs installed, intrusion detection (to see if the system has been 
altered). That's YOUR job. Not mine. 

I need to drive the computer, not work on it. I am a user.
-- 
Wishing you Happiness, Joy, and Laughter,
Drew Brown
http://www.ChangingLINKS.com