Re [plug] security (was Re: [plug] Installfest - distributions)

[Bret Busby]

skribe wrote:
> 
> At 13:15 25/08/00, Christian wrote:
> >Hire someone who knows security to do the work for you or invest time in
> >learning it yourself
> 
> I'm a hobbyist linux user as I suspect most of us on the list are.  Hiring
> someone isn't feasible and defeats the purpose of being a hobbyist
> anyway.  We want to know how things work.  What makes them tick.  So we can
> fix it later if it breaks.  Investing the time to learn isn't a problem
> (presuming we can fit it in with all of life's other necessities), except
> there's nowhere to learn other than the unis and only then in the longer
> courses.
> 
> So what do we do?  The information on the web is disseminated and
> basic.  Books are expensive and very often out of date by the time they're
> published. We end up with a mish-mash of information that may be useful but
> will undoubtedly be incomplete.  I don't know all that much about computer
> security (what I do know comes from reading web pages and books), but more
> importantly I don't know what I don't know because I don't know where to
> find out what I need to know, ya know? =).
> 
> I agree with you, Christian.  The vendors really need to do a better
> job.  But so does the community.  The people who know their shit really
> have to make this info available in an accessible form so that even newbies
> can get a grasp of it.
> 
> BTW, in case my tone suggested otherwise this is not a personal attack
> against Christian.  It's just a gasp of frustration about the situation.
> 
> skribe
>         Purity:                           62.0%
>         Corruption:                    38.0%
>         Insanity:                        36.3636363636364%
>         Weirdness factor:           31%
>         Experience Level:           JonKatz Wannabe
>         Medieval Career:            Black Knight

Perhaps Christian could write a security HOWTO?

-- 

Bret Busby

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