Re: [POSSIBLE GRAVE SECURITY HOLD]

[Pierre Beyssac <beyssac@enst.fr>]

On Wed, Feb 02, 2000 at 08:43:16AM -0500, Ben Collins wrote:
> In fact, sparc HARDWARE allows you to boot from tftp, floppy, CD, or any
> harddrive. So am I to suppose that SPARC hardware is insecure by default
> (for physical security)? Of course, and thus I would change it. Am I to
> suppose that it should be made not to do that by default? No, because it
> is setup to be easy to manage by default, and if I want better, I change
> it. Same with the MBR.

Sorry, but I do run Sparc hardware too, and there are at least 3
major differences. I am a bit tired of these endless arguments when
this could have been fixed in 1/4 the time, so I'll make it short:

	- Sparc behaviour is (succintly) documented in the boot
	  (ROM) monitor itself. Not Debian's MBR (this MBR has a
	  online doc? Good joke!);
	- Sparc behaviour is documented in Solaris by default
	  (man boot, man eeprom). In Debian, it's not documented
	  unless you install the install-mbr package.
	- Sparc behaviour allows you to set a password on the boot
	  procedure. Not Debian's MBR (good joke, again).
-- 
Pierre Beyssac		pb@enst.fr