[2803] in bugtraq
Re: Write-only devices (Was read only devices) [via LSMTP - see
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (der Mouse)
Mon Jun 24 22:13:10 1996
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 20:16:28 -0400
Reply-To: Bugtraq List <BUGTRAQ@netspace.org>
From: der Mouse <mouse@Collatz.McRCIM.McGill.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list BUGTRAQ <BUGTRAQ@netspace.org>
> An advantage of paper over magnetic records is that they are human
> readable. Rightly or wrongly, important people such as law
> enforcement, lawyers and juries tend to trust paper more than
> magnetic records.
They're harder to doctor after the fact, though of course they're
equally easy to _fake_ after the fact.
>> Where's the problem ??
[with using a logging machine]
> In a word: complexity. Cheap 9-pin printers are simple, reliable and
> understandable. Linux boxes are complicated and go wrong more often
> and in mysterious ways. On the other hand, their great advantages
> are higher storage density and more powerful log analysis tools.
You could get the best of both worlds, you know. Hook up three RS-232
connectors, such that the transmit pin of the log-generator machine
drives the receive pins of both the printer and the log-keeping
machine. Then you have logs in softcopy form to slice and dice with
analysis tools, plus you have a hardcopy trail in case you have to
produce something in a court that doesn't recognize that magnetic media
are just as good as paper.
der Mouse
mouse@collatz.mcrcim.mcgill.edu
