On your system maybe, but in the context of the Zoo I don't think that
policy makes much sense. In that respect it's a rather elitist attitude;
you're assuming that all users act responsibly and have a broad knowledge
of UNIX. Since the Zoo caters to a wide range of courses and students,
many of whom have a somewhat limited knowledge of UNIX, the common case
(in this discussion, the panic expressed at not being able to execute a
local file) is arguably more significant than the rare case (the weird,
contrived security hole).
This is, I'm assuming, the reason that Shawn Bayern (and others) are
arguing to have . in the path. By leaving it out, they are simply
imposing their ideals on the users from an arguably elitist perspective,
while the rest of us take on the burden of having to explain to users how
to add . to their path, or to force them to type './foo' everytime,
which is a hassle that no one wants to (or used to) ever have to deal
with.
--Carp
_____________________________________________________________
| Brian Carp | P.O.Box 202627 |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT |
| Calhoun College '01 | 06520-2627 |
| 203-436-0471 | brian.carp@yale.edu |
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