make ping executable by normal users?

[Britton Kerin <britton.kerin@gmail.com>]

On my old debian system I could ping as a normal user.  The ping
binary had the suid bit set.  Now I get:

    $ ping www.google.com
    ping: icmp open socket: Operation not permitted
    2 $

presumably because the bit isn't set.

What's the right fix?  I could setuid it but then if I understand
correctly it might get changed back by an upgrade.  Does it use
capabilites or something?

Thanks,
Britton