tty security problems under SunOS 4.1 and SunOS 4.1.1

[Jim Balter]

In article <1991May14.184506.4756 at jato.jpl.nasa.gov> dave at jato.jpl.nasa.gov writes:
>SO when you ask "Why do people...", you might consider what effect you
>have had on them first. Perhaps in the case of the wayward vendors,
>you might offer them a comprehensive and SIMPLE solution to this problem,
>instead of just jumping up and down and pointing out the mistake.

Dan appears to have offered what he believes to be a comprehensive solution,
and as simple as he thinks he can make it.  ("Make things as simple as
possible, but no simpler." -- Al E.)  The one jumping up and down is you.

>After all...coming up with break code doesn't really help you come up 
>with a fix now, does it?

Nor does posting it all over the net, now, does it?

Dan provides a solution but doesn't provide the break code.  Ed Carp and
you and a bunch of others yell and scream in a most insulting, rude, impolite
and uninformed manner at Dan.  Now you say that he should offer a solution
but not come up with break code.  Go figger.

As I see it, a bunch of non-wizardly sys admins are trying to disrupt a
technical discussion about tty security problems and how to fix them,
with demands that some code that demonstrates the problem be posted so that
they can "understand the problem" and then go hack and slash or whatever
in order to "fix" the problem.  This is simply not a competent approach
toward problem solving.  If you aren't competent (meaning possessing required
knowledge and skills; nothing pejorative) to understand the problem from
the discussion so far, what can possibly make you think that you are competent
to solve the problem based upon the program that breaks the system?
But many people don't seem to understand this.  There are a lot of programmers
who, given an equation solver, some equations, and the right answer, would
run off and hack on the equation solver until it yielded the right answer,
without ever cracking a book on mathematics.  (And some are going, Yeah,
what's wrong with that?")  It might be better if programmers were given intense
analytical training before being let near a computer, with its instantly
gratifying feedback.