Re: Preventing users from shuting down the system

[hinsen dirac cnrs-orleans fr]

Alan Shutko <ats@acm.org> writes:

> If someone is at the console, they can (and alarmingly often do) hit
> the power switch, jab the reset button, or hit C-A-DEL.  With physical
> access, if someone wants to shut down or reboot the system, they're
> going to do so.  This just gives them a safe way of doing it.

It all depends on your users. Everyone who has ever used electrical
equipment knows what an on-off switch is, and if told not to switch
off any computer, they usually don't. On the other hand, people who
don't know much about Unix systems usually don't know what a shutdown
procedure is (and outside the English-speaking world people might not
even guess the meaning from the name!), and might not even know what
logging out is good for.

I am not too scared by users typing "shutdown" accidentally (rather
improbable), but offering this option as a click-the-button option,
and even suggesting by its placement that it's something similar to a
logout, means inviting trouble (and yes, it happened, so it's not just
a theoretical worry).
-- 
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