Re: A Few Ideas

[Tim Moore <tmoore tembel org>]

On Fri, 18 Sep 1998, J.W. Bizzaro wrote:

> Haukur Hreinsson <hawk@london.is> wrote:
> > 
> > >> 1.  Add the ability to run programs as processes
> > >>     under other user names, like "root" from another
> > >>     account.  A right-button click over a program
> > >>     icon could bring up dialog to specify the user
> > >>     and password.
> > 
> > What I would like is program that sits on the desktop or panel and runs
> > executables that are dropped onto it (from the menus or gmc or whereever)
> > under its own userid. That way you can start one of these things as root and
> > use it from there on as a root-program-factory of sorts.
> 
> I agree, as long as it is omnipresent.
> 
> This is some of my reasoning behind the concept: We know
> it has been a big security issue whether or not people should
> use the root account as their primary account while connected
> to the Internet.  Okay, so let's say it's 2002, and I'm
> someone who just bought their first PC, a GNOME-equipped
> Linux machine from Walmart (it can happen). I heard I'm not
> supposed to do work as root, but how do I perform all this
> system administration without getting into the terminals and
> the "cryptic commands"?  If GNOME is to make Linux/UNIX on
> par with Windows and the Mac in ease-of-use (as all these
> magazine articles are claiming it will), shouldn't there be
> a *graphical* way to do something like this? That's all
> I'm saying.

Frankly, doing system administration of a Unix system is not and, IMO,
will *never* be something that a newbie can handle. The superuser/normal
user distinction is probably difficult enough, but keeping the myriad
components updated, using sensible administration policies, keeping the
machine secure, and generally not shooting yourself in the foot requires
technical competence and experience, and a lot more time than most people
are going to want to give. So-called cryptic commands are nothing compared
to the general level of skill necessary to administer a Unix box. We
should not be designing system administration tools for newbies.

Which is not to say that all is hopeless for J. Random Unixnewbie. I see
two likely situations which would allow average computer users to benefit
from Linux and GNOME.

First, I predict that, following Windows 9x/NT and Mac OS X/X Server,
there will be a split between Linux distributions for newbies and Linux
distributions for geeks. In fact, the split has already started, with
Caldera, for example, targeting themselves at the less technical and
Debian at the more technical. I predict that as GNOME matures we will
start seeing systems with no sendmail, telnetd, ftpd, httpd, etc. 
installed (at least by default), which are designed to minimize security
risks at the cost of some advanced features, and which completely bypass
the console, and maybe even the login screen, and go straight to the
desktop (like NEXTSTEP and Mac OS X/Rhapsody).

Second, and perhaps more important to the GNOME project, I think we should
assume that many users will have a dedicated sysadmin, and never have to
worry about installation and configuration themselves. Obviously this is
often the case in office environments and school labs. I think that, to an
increasing extent, this will become true in homes as well, as the computer
industry becomes more service-oriented. (Imagine if you could just buy an
X terminal instead of a full-blown PC and connect over a high-bandwidth
link to a large, professionally maintained server at your ISP.)

I'll stop ranting now.

Tim