Re: Crazy APT/dpkg suggestion (user-installable packages)
On Wed, Feb 06, 2002 at 08:39:54AM -0500, Kevin B. McCarty wrote:
> It would be useful to many people if regular users could install Debian
> packages into their home directories, but this would take an immense
> amount of effort to make practical. This suggestion might be the next
> best thing. Assuming that security issues could be resolved, make apt-get
> and/or dpkg setuid root so that the following could be implemented:
This doesn't address the most difficult issues with installing packages in
locations other than /. In my opinion, the issues are:
- Having the installed packages actually work
(see the thread about relocatable packages for how truly awful this can
be)
- Having the package maintainer scripts actually work
This really wouldn't be that difficult if there were some way to provide a
secure chroot-like mechanism to unprivileged users. dpkg already supports
complete package installation into a chroot environment (see
--root/--admindir/--instdir), where all package and maintainer script
assumptions would still hold true. Unfortunately, the current Unix/Linux
chroot mechanism cannot be entrusted to unprivileged users.
>From what I hear of its translators, there is definitely hope in the Hurd.
Until then, the next best thing is to apt-get install user-mode-linux.
--
- mdz
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