Linux/HURD security and virtual machines

[Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS <edmundo@rano.demon.co.uk>]

I suppose the thing I like least about UNIX is the way every program I
run automatically receives permission to do everything I can do, e.g.
delete all my files, send mail on my behalf, etc, etc. Also, there is
nothing like a "virtual machine": portability of programs can not be
enforced because every program can examine its environment and decide
to fail if certain files exist on the system or whatever. This second
issue is a consequence of the first one, of course: every program
unnecessarily receives permission to examine the system it is running
on.

Will the HURD provide a solution for these problems? Or are these
things
simply not perceived as problems? (You might argue that people who want
badly written programs to run safely and portably should use Java.
Still,
it might be nice to provide a UNIX virtual machine for application
programs
to think that they have the machine to themselves.)

Edmund