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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!zzz
From: zzz@mit-eddie.UUCP (Mike Konopik)
Newsgroups: net.games.emp
Subject: Re: Starting-up notes (beware -- mild fl - (nf)
Message-ID: <886@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Nov-83 23:13:30 EST
Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.886
Posted: Wed Nov  2 23:13:30 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Nov-83 08:47:28 EST
References: <3588@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 20

In response to the question of making the database only selectively modifyable,
it isn't bloody likely that this can be done the way things are laid out in
the game. For one thing, it is TRIVIAL to su to the deity's uid and run it
without ANY way for the program to tell the difference. The empfix program
is compiled with the uid of the deity in it, so this is as close to protection
as I can see. Passwords can be found, unless you want to make a separate one
for empfix and crypt it (so using "strings" on it won't spit one out). But that
would open the possibility that the deity might forget it and then the game
would truly be scrod. Empfix is the back-door to fixing up the world when, say,
the deity types a CRLF in confirmation to the "Country number? (number 6 is 
free)" question in the ADD command, when the program takes it to be 0 (no #
was typed) and he has just overwritten the deity in the empnat file... We did
that once and saved the deity only because we could run empfix (couldn't log
in as the deity to fix (which runs empfix, btw), 'cause the country was gone).

Anyhow, I think you get the point (this is MUCH too long, so I'll shut up now).

				-Mike

genrad!mit-eddie!zzz  (UUCP)    ZZZ%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC  (ARPA)