Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!HARVARD.HARVARD.EDU!thakur%cfa201
From: thakur%cfa201@HARVARD.HARVARD.EDU (Manavendra K. Thakur)
Newsgroups: gnu.emacs
Subject: Socket created by emacsclient server
Message-ID: <8811081608.AA17358@prep.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 8 Nov 88 16:13:19 GMT
Sender: daemon@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Distribution: gnu
Organization: GNUs Not Usenet
Lines: 28


By loading and running the emacsclient server, you create a socket in
your home directory which is used for the interaction between emacs
and the calling process.

Unfortunately, if you exit emacs, this socket, which in my case has
777 permission, still sits around.  There's nothing to delete it.

Is there anyone who can shed some light on how to delete this socket
automatically (is there an equivalent of the .logout file for emacs)?
It would be best to only create the socket as it was needed (i.e.
only when emacs was called by the client), and then delete it as the
when the client exits, but this may not be possible.

With the recent virus attacks in mind, it seems that leaving this
socket open could present a potential problem.  Much as I dislike the
notion of clamping down on security, I have to admit that I didn't
like running around all day trying to eliminate the effects of the
virus (we did get hit).  It seems to me that we can still preserve an
open computing environment in the Richard Stallman tradition but still
take minimal precautions (like deleting unused sockets lying around)
to prevent such attacks in the future.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions, anyone?

                                Manavendra K. Thakur
                                thakur@cfa200.harvard.edu
                                thakur%cfa@harvard.harvard.edu