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Re: How to download a package?



on Wed, Apr 25, 2001 at 04:42:47PM -0500, Dean (destruss@IowaTelecom.net) wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "will trillich" <will@serensoft.com>
> To: <debian-user@lists.debian.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 12:36 PM
> Subject: Re: How to download a package?
> 
> 
> > On Wed, Apr 25, 2001 at 09:54:42AM -0400, - wrote:
> > > This may seem like a stupid question but how do you download a Debian
> > > package?
> > > (Yes, I'm a really low level newbie)
> > >  My hangup concerns these preliminaries before performing a
> > > download.....
> > >
> > >  1.   Should all downloads be done by  root user or can any user do it?
> > >
> > >  2.   What directory should be set as the active directory in the
> > > command line?

> I have also wondered on downloading as root, does this
> leave us open security wise?       Dean

Note recent discussion on trimming quotations in responses and using
postfix response.

Not significantly.  However, minimizing activities run as root tends to
reduce your security exposure.  If you do download live payload and
accidentally run it as root, you're in more danger than if you run it as
an unprivileged user.  Running "advanced" file transfer utilities --
browsers, GUI FTP utilities, etc., may leave you open to automated
content handling, most of which confers a low benefit for the potential
risks involved.

root user is a powerful tool.  It's best used only when needed.

Cheers.

-- 
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com>    http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
 What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?       There is no K5 cabal
  http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/         http://www.kuro5hin.org

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