Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!elroy!orion.cf.uci.edu!uci-ics!nagel
From: nagel@blanche.ics.uci.edu (Mark Nagel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Gatekeeper bug
Message-ID: <4550@paris.ics.uci.edu>
Date: 18 Jan 89 18:26:03 GMT
References: <326@s1.sys.uea.ac.uk>
Sender: news@paris.ics.uci.edu
Reply-To: nagel@blanche.ics.uci.edu (Mark Nagel)
Organization: University of California, Irvine - Dept of ICS
Lines: 28
In-reply-to: jrk@s1.sys.uea.ac.uk (Richard Kennaway)

In article <326@s1.sys.uea.ac.uk>, jrk@s1 (Richard Kennaway) writes:
|
| [problems with GateKeeper corrupting the System file]
|

I've had no such problems, although I would like to state that while
the author *did* mention that you should give access to various
applications that need to mess with resources and files, he did *not*
make it clear how important it would be if you did not do so (for
example, you didn't realize an application needed access until it was
too late).  As an example, I installed GateKeeper, read the
instructions, set it up to handle various things (Think C, ResEdit,
etc.), but did not remember to do Stuffit or the DA Handler.  The
problem is that many applications and DA's do not check error
conditions as thoroughly as they might (especially when such errors
would normally be extremely rare).  When extracting an application
from Stuffit, it is unable to change the file type to APPL, but
proceeds anyway, etc.  Through several of these mishaps, I managed to
trash the volume directory for the partition I was in (luckily this
didn't happen in my root partition!).  I've removed GateKeeper for the
time being as it is more dangerous than virii.  I'll reinstall it only
after I manage to build a list of exactly which applications require
access permissions.  Perhaps a such a list (of popular programs and
standard programs) could be made part of the documentation?

Mark Nagel @ UC Irvine, Dept of Info and Comp Sci
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