Re: Intent To Split: netbase
On Wed, 16 Aug 2000, Anthony Towns wrote:
> FHS discuss people: where should traceroute go? Tradition dictates
> /usr/sbin, the FHS seems to indicate /usr/bin would be more
> appropriate.
> [analysis]
IMHO, the deciding factor should be whether traceroute is installed
setuid root.
If traceroute is *not* installed setuid, then normal users cannot do
anything useful with it except perhaps get usage information (which is
already covered in the man page). Therefore, putting a non-setuid
traceroute binary in /usr/bin is pointless; it should go in /usr/sbin
because it is only useful to root.
If traceroute *is* installed setuid, then implicitly, it is intended
for non-root users to run. Otherwise, there would be no need to
install it setuid. Therefore, if a setuid traceroute binary exists on
the system, it should be in /usr/bin.
I suppose one could argue that a setuid traceroute binary could be
intended for non-root system accounts to run (i.e., still not be
intended for all regular users), but personally, I think that would be
a stretch.
--
James Ralston, Information Technology
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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