Bug#1739: syslog is uncommented in /etc/services by default

[Ian Jackson <ian@chiark.chu.cam.ac.uk>]

Peter Tobias asks me in email:
> Ian Jackson wrote:
> > Package: netbase
> > Version: 1.19-1
> >
> > I've now tracked down what it is that keeps reenabling my syslog's
> > network listening: the netbase package's /etc/services file has syslog
> > uncommented.
> >
> > Commenting out the /etc/services entry is of course a very nasty way
> > of nixing syslog's usually-undesirable network listening feature, but
> > we should leave things that way until the syslog package is improved.
>
> Why do you think it's a bug in the netbase package? This feature (and
> the syslog entry in /etc/services) is enabled on the systems that
> support it (at least on those I have access to). And I see no problem
> having it enabled by default. Anyway, it shouldn't be "fixed" by
> commenting out the syslog service in /etc/services. It should be fixed
> in the syslogd package.

It's a security problem, because it allows any machine anywhere on the
Internet to make your maching completely unusable very easily.  syslog
writes its logfiles to disk synchronously, and the logs can fill up
the disk too.

Most people do not need or want the remote logging feature.

It should therefore be disabled by default.

I agree that it shouldn't be fixed by commenting out the syslog entry
in /etc/services, but that seems to be the only avenue open at the
moment.  Please keep the entry commented out until the syslog package
is fixed.

Ian.