Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!Firewall!ddsw1!learn
From: learn@ddsw1.MCS.COM (William Vajk)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Student suspended for distributing /etc/passwd
Message-ID: <1991Jun16.032125.19880@ddsw1.MCS.COM>
Date: 16 Jun 91 03:21:25 GMT
References: <31124@hydra.gatech.EDU> <1637@lehi3b15.csee.Lehigh.EDU>
Organization: Dares No Organization Like Dis Organization
Lines: 31

In article <1637@lehi3b15.csee.Lehigh.EDU> Paul Orphanos writes:

>passwd file off to someone. That's like telling bank robbers where the
>safe is, and how to disable the alarms.  Sure, you did'nt give them
>the combination, and you might not have been near the scene of the
>crime. But are you guilty of being an accomplis? Most definitely.

Question #1:  Is anyone going to learn anything because this
              particular student is being punished ?

Question #2:  What is the likelihood that this interruption to
              the student's education will become permanent.

If we understand that the student's behavior, while not serious
(in my opinion) was sociopathic, what has the university done
other than to divest themselves of this troublesome individual ?

I have never been convinced that suspensions or expulsions should be 
considered as discipline for non-academic failures in a university 
setting. It seems to me the entire raison d'etre is overlooked in these
cases.

>With a passwd file, you don't have to guess ANY user id's, only
>passwords. And we all know how careful users are in choosing
>passwords.

Most of the unixoid systems I've used require combinations of
numbers and letters in the password, this being bypassed by the
root login authority.

Bill Vajk