[openbeos] Re: Singleuser vs Multiuser
- From: "Gelatt, Christopher" <gelattc@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "'openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 21:24:02 -0600
I've been juggling this same question in my head for a couple of weeks now.
I'd say that the best route might be to go single- and multi-user. Before
you flame me, let me explain how I can see this working:
Since BeFS already supports UNIX file permissions, etc., it would be a
relatively simple matter to extend that into the kernel. The foundation's
there even in R5, but the implementation (AFAIK) is limited only by the
kernel.
Anyway, about the mixed single- multi-user thing. Have a preferences panel
specifically for this. Allow the user (if the system is currently set in
single-user mode) to select single- or multi-user mode. If it's already in
multi-user mode, only let the BeOS equivalent of root change the setting.
When the setting is changed from single- to multi-user, apply flags to the
files in places like /boot/apps /boot/home/config/bin and /bin (I can't
remember what that's symlinked to, ATM) to allow all users to run programs
in those directories. Have home directories created, such as
/boot/home/username and let users store individually-installed programs in
there (say, /boot/home/username/apps). In other words, have the system set
the appropriate file permissions.
For switching from multi- to single-user, leave the file attributes and
permissions intact, but automatically log the user in as the superuser. So,
I guess it just boils down to whether the user would want to be
automatically logged in as the superuser.
On a side, note, would the superuser be named root baron or something else?
Personally, my vote would go to baron, with the account reporting to POSIX
apps that it's root (for ease of portability) and have a symlink at /root to
/boot/home/baron or something.
My reasoning for suggesting this is the following: yes, BeOS is supposed to
be easy to use, and most people feel more comfortable with single-user
systems. However, there are many people (such as me) who would really,
really like to have multiple users on one box, and to have the security that
UNIX file permissions offer (although, IMO, the security issue is the vastly
greater one). BeLogin just doesn't cut it for security on BeOS. Currenly,
it's impossible to set up SSH or FTP daemons without giving whoever logs in
full control of the system (I'm assuming no specially-created software
here). I'd love to see daemons that would just look at the system
permissions and use those.
--Chris Gelatt
-----Original Message-----
From: Anton du Toit [mailto:adu_toit@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2001 5:52 PM
To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [openbeos] Re: Singleuser vs Multiuser
I'd like OpenBeOS to be multi-user. Very important for households where you
have more than one user per PC.
Just my $0.02.
Anton
>From: Harry Kalogirou <harkal@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [openbeos] Re: Singleuser vs Multiuser
>Date: 10 Dec 2001 01:16:50 +0200
>
>
>On =C4=E5=F5, 2001-12-10 at 01:09, Mark-Jan Bastian wrote:
> >=20
> >=20
> > Maybe there are better idea's than just copying the unix-style
> > multi-user approach...
> > Staying single user as a first goal sounds the most
> > reasonable to me. BeOS could always evolve to a multi-user
> > OS.
> >=20
> > Mark-Jan
> >=20
>
>It probably is reasonable to have single-user as a first
>goal, but if there are plans for later multi-user evolvement
>some more things are better to be put in the foundation to avoid
>later headaches!
>
>Harry
>
>
>
>
>
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