Re[2]: [vps-mail] Sigh... more permissions problems

[Abigail Marshall <abigail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

SW> On Sun, Apr 11, 2004 at 09:58:27PM -0700, Abigail Marshall wrote:
>>
>> -rw-rw-rw-  1 root  pop  30716 Apr 11 21:30 procmail.log

SW> Doesn't 664 (or 660) work? You've still got a
SW> world-writable file with 666 (permissions of the devil).
SW> All anyone has to do is "cat /dev/null
>> /var/log/procmail.log" and your log has been wiped out.

I've already fixed it to 660 - I just hadn't done it yet
when I posted. Bear in mind that no one else has access to
this server, and if a hacker does get access, I have bigger
problems to worry about than the possibility that they may
wipe out a log file. Even the people with POP boxes don't
use POP from this server; rather, the POP boxes all have
.procmailrc files that forward the mail off server. (It's
set up this way, rather than aliased, to allow for spam
filtering).

SW> You're not alone. I think lots of people are going
SW> through the same issues.

Well, for me, I have to change the way I think about
installing a program or write a script, remembering to
mentally assign a user and group at the outset ... rather
than coming back at the end to debug.

It probably would help new users to have Viaverio provide a
very simple explanation of permissions as a separate
tutorial, on some sort of "Welcome to the VPS2" page for
resellers, just to bring people's attention to it right
away.

I think the 2 most *significant* problem-causing differences I've
encountered so far with VPS2 are the permissions issue and
the overall directory structure. The directory structure
isn't really  a problem, just takes some poking around
sometimes to find what I am looking for.

The other difference is the ports collection, and also CPAN
installation (though CPAN was available on VPS1)... but I
don't see that as a "problem"... more like Ports Heaven. But
I did have to Google for an explanation as to how to use it.
After so many years of having to puzzle out whether to
specify root or virtual paths to get various CGI's working,
it is quite nice to be able to get something up and running
by merely typing "make install".

-Abigail

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