[security question] creating tempfiles

[Dirk Eddelbuettel <edd@debian.org>]

Akim, the a2ps author (whom I've added as a CC here) suggested using 

	# Create the temporary directory with strict rights
	(umask 077 && mkdir $tmpdir) || exit 1

in /usr/bin/texi2dvi4a2ps. This should be portable, and not require
tempfile(1) which he can't assume to be present on all systems. [ We
discussed including it with a2ps, but this solution seemed easier.]

Could someone kindly try to poke a hole into this?  As the temp. directory is
created with a strict mask in an atomic operation, we should be fine.  Yes?
No? I'd be thankful for all comments.

Please CC me when replying, I am currently not on this list due to the large
traffic volume.

Cheers, Dirk


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