Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!cica!gatech!prism!loligo!nall
From: nall@nu.cs.fsu.edu (John Nall)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Re: Default passwords
Message-ID: <187@loligo.cc.fsu.edu>
Date: 2 Jul 89 17:22:02 GMT
Sender: nall@loligo.cc.fsu.edu
Reply-To: nall@nu.cs.fsu.edu (John Nall)
Followup-To: Default password
Organization: Florida State University, 
              Computer Science Department
Lines: 34

There seems to be some disagreement to my statement that "the concensus
of the net on this previously was that passwords not be sent out".  The
last time someone asked the question, I was the one who answered with the
password, and promptly got flamed.  NOW I get flamed for taking the other
side.  Oh well, such is life....

There seems to be three arguments presented against my position:

1.  KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO BREAK IT ANYWAY.
2.  YOU CAN BUY THE SOURCE BUT NOT GET ANY DOCUMENTATION.
3.  THE BOOK SAYS YOU CAN MAKE A LIMITED NUMBER OF COPIES FOR FRIENDS.

The first one has interesting implications ("Dear Mr. Bank President: Let
me explain to you why you should publish the combination to your vault...")
but I don't buy it.

On the second one:  Really?  Places sell the source, but do not have any
documentation?  I know a place like that in Miami, which sells MicroSoft C
for $20 if you bring your own disks.  Are these authorized dealers?  If so,
please enlighten the rest of us with names, address, prices.  Perhaps it 
offers an alternative to P-H.

The third one is not a bad argument, but why not get the password and other
information from the person from whom you received the software?  It would
seem to me this is the very privilege we want to keep from being abused.

Anyway...I'll say no more on the subject.  P-H and ast can defind themselves
without my help.  (But out of curiousity -- where are the people who got
after me when I sent out the password???)

John Nall
Computer Science Dept
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL