Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.os.misc
Subject: Re: Unix bigotry
Message-ID: <2744@ficc.uu.net>
Date: 16 Jan 89 12:36:58 GMT
References: <1135@raspail.UUCP> <229@sea375.UUCP> <1143@raspail.UUCP>
Organization: Xenix Support
Lines: 18

In article <1143@raspail.UUCP>, bga@raspail.UUCP (Bruce Albrecht) writes:
> > > Last > time I checked, it didn't have guardian procedures, either.
> > What's are guardian procedures?

> A procedure that is invoked whenever you open a file, that intercepts all
> I/O to perform filtering or security verification.

A more transparent version of the beloved UNIX tradition of guarding files
by only letting particular programs access them. The guardian, then, is the
equivalent of setuid programs.

By the way, see the winter '88 Usenix proceedings for "watchdogs", an
implementation of guardians under UNIX.
-- 
Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation.
Work: uunet.uu.net!ficc!peter, peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180.   `-_-'
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