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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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