Bug#556142: Move openssh-client recommendation of xauth to an X related package
Hmm. Well: Ubuntu has a lot of case where you run a binary or command,
and instead get back an error message that says you need to install the
package... a nice clear error message. Never mind that this can blow up
scripts that test if a binary is present... ignore that.
The same base idea could work for ssh and X forwarding... you'd hack the
code up so that it drops a very clear error message: "to enable X
forwarding install package zzzzz". It would be a two step process in
the relatively rare case where a person installs ssh, but no other
dependency that brought in X (e.g. no imagemagick, no X utilities, no
window manager, etc).
Or: make the dependency on a very base X library, so if you get X, you
get what you need for X forwarding. Your response does not address why
this would not solve the problem. No X, no need for X forwarding... or
am I missing something here?
I don't care if ssh itself has forwarding compiled in... that's trivial
in size. It is the fact that an actual copy of X comes along with what
is otherwise a core utility useful on everything from a smartphone
(think Andrioid), to an embedded device, all the way up to a graphical
server! In server security land the less stuff that's installed, the
less stuff one has to worry about a security hole in. X is undesirable
on the server, in part because it is big and complicated... and unnecessary.
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