Re: [lintian] app-defaults mode 444

["Adam P. Harris" <apharris@onshore.com>]

"fpolacco" == fpolacco  <fpolacco@icenet.fi> writes:
>> On Sun, 15 Feb 1998 fpolacco@icenet.fi wrote:
>> > Therefore I think that it is better to leave them mode 444 so a user
>> > (educated by Slackware) will find little more difficult to modify them
>> > (mode 444 should make him think that that file shouldn't be modifyed)

> Our policy already say "don't edit that file"; leaving it mode 444 is a
> way to assert the current policy.

Actually:

[From Policy Manual 2.4.0.0 Section 3.3.8]
| The rules in this section are guidelines for general use. If necessary
| you may deviate from the details below. However, if you do so you must
| make sure that what is done is secure and you must try to be as
| consistent as possible with the rest of the system. You should
| probably also discuss it on debian-devel first.

| Files should be owned by root.root, and made writable only by the
| owner and universally readable (and executable, if appropriate).

I think we might add a clause like so:

  In some cases, packagers may wish to indicate explicitly that the
  file is not meant for writing, and therefore set the file to be
  non-writable even for the owner (i.e., mode 0444).  An example of
  this are the files in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults.

Kinda a hair-splitter here though.

.....A. P. Harris...apharris@onShore.com...<URL:http://www.onShore.com/>