Re: tool in /bin

[Justin Pryzby <justinpryzby@users.sourceforge.net>]

On Tue, Jul 25, 2006 at 11:20:34AM +0200, Robert Lemmen wrote:
> hi folks,
> 
> i have a bug report (#377687) which asks for a secure deletion tool to
> be installed in /bin instead of /usr/bin so you can use it in
> maintenance mode. makes sense in a way, and is possible when you look at
> the library dependencies. but should it be done? i didn't find anything
> in the policy on what to put in /bin, and the FHS doesn't really help.
> so what do you think? should such a tool live in /bin?
/[s]bin and /lib should be the minimal set of tools needed to boot the
system, before /usr is mounted, or needed to restore the system if
/usr is corrupted (eg. by [re]installing packages).  The submitter
wants to be able to have the bootscripts use a "shred"-like
alternative to /bin/rm to inhibit undeletion of datafiles.  I wonder
what files are removed during boot that benefit (presumably from a
security POV) from this?

Justin