Author: Lisi Date: To: Hampshire LUG Discussion List Subject: Re: [Hampshire] Password problem on first boot up of Acer Aspire One
On Tuesday 14 July 2009 11:12:48 Victor Churchill wrote: > I find this whole sorry tale initially shocking, then outraging (*),
> and ultimately depressing. ((*) - looks odd, I know, but does exist in
> Webster's as a transitive verb participle.)
> Shocked that something that bad can be released as a product by
> anybody, then outraged that someone has taken the Linux system we know
> and love and made such an abominable hash of it [and yes, because of
> GPL, they are perfectly within their rights to do so]. Finally
> depressed because that may be the first and last sight of an Open
> Source software product for a lot of consumers.
I have got past the initial problem - specific apparently means
non-alpha-numeric (???!). But I now have another "problem" I find
bloodcurdling.
I never have to enter the password. I boot in without a password. OK. I
sometimes set that up on purpose on my boxen. But, I _never_ have to enter a
password. When I found that I could update the software without a password,
I ran a few tests. The following all work without passwords: sudo, sudo -i,
sudo su -. At that point I gave up in disgust.
So I (and presumably anyone else who chooses to do so, malicious or otherwise)
can do anything I want without having to enter a password. And this is Linux
we are talking about.
The solution is obvious. Wipe and reinstall, probably with Debian. But I
bought it specifically to take on holiday with me to retrieve any important
emails that come while I am away. At the moment it works. Perhaps not
optimally, but it works. So fiddling with it will have to wait until the end
of August.
But like Victor, I find this shocking, outraging, and ultimately depressing.
The strong security is one of the reasons that I like Linux in the first
place.
At least I now know why so many Linux users buy a box with Linux installed and
promptly wipe the HDD! I did wonder.
