Re: [Evolution] can't change any preference setting

[Pete Biggs <pete biggs org uk>]

On Thu, 2017-06-15 at 22:40 +0200, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Jun 2017 21:27:09 +0100, Pete Biggs wrote:
> > 1000-1999 range
>
> I wrote about this already ;). In this case the context is important ;).
> Deleting the tmpfs file doesn't cause issues, but indeed, on a set-up
> that never ever is used by the OP, this range could cause issues. An
> admin for a multi-user set-up, never ever would have asked the OP's
> question, let alone that such an admin is able to understand 1???.

I think what I was trying to get across is that the answer you give is
findable on the net - this is a Good Thing - but people will find your
answer and just try it, in the same way they will blindly try anything
else they find on the net whether it is sensible or not, without any 
thought, or even knowledge, about what they are trying to do or the
consequences on their system. It's not a theoretical risk - I once got
alerted that one of my users had tried to use sudo and the command was
a very odd one - a convoluted shell script that essentially added a UID
0 user and sent the IP address of the machine to some site thus
creating a backdoor. I tackled the user about it - their exact words
were "I was looking for an answer to a problem and I found it on a
website, I have no idea what it does". It has crossed my mind to put
"sudo rm -xx /" as a bomb answer to catch people (yes, I know the
command is wrong ...).

I tend to be very conservative in giving direct answers on mailing
lists - I've been burnt a couple of times by people who are too stupid
to follow instructions and then blamed me very vocally for trashing
their system. I now "describe" what people need to do with lots of
caveats and warnings - it takes longer and is more verbose, but at
least it makes sure people are much more aware of what they are doing.

P.