Re: Cannot run any executables under Debian2.0 - Help(newbie)
On Mon, 12 Oct 1998, tko wrote:
> Helge Hafting writes:
> [snip]
> > Note that your PATH does not contain the current directory (.) This is
> > default for Debian, and is considered a security feature. I believe you
> > can run standard executables like "ls" and such?
> >
> > To run the a.out file, use "./a.out" instead of only "a.out"
> > The same applies to anything else that isn't in your path. Why is this a
> > security thing? Because a nasty user on a multiuser system could create a
> > virus or something and name it "ls"
> > in his home directory. Someone else might cd's into that
> > directory and run "ls" in order to get a directory list.
> > Not having the current dir in PATH is then useful.
>
> Unnecessary, Just place the "." at the end of the $PATH variable so that all
> other directories are searched first before defaulting to the current
> directory "." Thus, official binaries (like /usr/bin/*) are searched before
> attempting the current directory.
He did say 'nasty' user. Nasty users don't just have trojan horses called
'ls', but common typos as well. These won't get caught by official binaries,
so typing 'emaca' will do its dirty work before benignly replying
bash: emaca: command not found .
It's not very difficult to get used to typing ./ when you need to.
Cheers,
--
Email: d.wright@open.ac.uk Tel: +44 1908 653 739 Fax: +44 1908 655 151
Snail: David Wright, Earth Science Dept., Milton Keynes, England, MK7 6AA
Disclaimer: These addresses are only for reaching me, and do not signify
official stationery. Views expressed here are either my own or plagiarised.
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