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From: gwyn@BRL.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re:  When . is valid in PATH
Message-ID: <2384@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 4-Apr-86 20:51:54 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-smok.2384
Posted: Fri Apr  4 20:51:54 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Apr-86 07:51:21 EST
Sender: news@brl-smoke.ARPA
Lines: 17

WHAT "problem" is this horrible kludge attempting to address?

If you feel the need to have "." in your $PATH, put it last
and you will never run booby traps instead of standard system
utilities.

Better yet, leave "." out of your $PATH and explicitly invoke
executables in the current directory as "./whatever" when you
do want to run them.

Anyone who runs unknown executables "just to see what they do"
is too stupid for any amount of automatic protection; the fool
would probably just make a copy of the executable in his own
directory and run it anyway.

Geez, guys, this is UNIX.  We don't need non-solutions to
non-problems embedded in it.