[2913] in SIPB_Linux_Development
Installing PUBLIC=false
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sam Hartman)
Thu Aug 24 01:55:29 2000
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 01:55:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Sam Hartman <hartmans@MIT.EDU>
To: linux-dev@MIT.EDU
So, zacheiss and kcr have lobbied strongly to ask us to install
workstations PUBLIC=true. Richard and I have decided that at least
for now, we do not want to do this.
We kept coming up with cases where this produced the wrong behavior.
It could replace the kernel the installer had installed, which would
be a significant disadvantage. It might interact badly with other
packages that the installation had chosen.
Richard also feels fairly strongly that users should choose a root
password and that most of our users do not want their root password
changed.
I think proponents of PUBLIC=true should identify what PUBLIC=true is
likely to break that the Redhat installer might do as well as what
user activities this might disrupt. I do not have enough information
to know all the ways PUBLIC=true might do the wrong thing. Until this
changes, I believe that I can produce a higher-stability product by
installing PUBLIC=false AUTOUPDATE=true.
If we do get a good list of potential impact of PUBLIC=true, then we
can weigh these potential negatives against the possible benefits and
consider setting PUBLIC=true.
--Sam
