So I've been thinking about how various things can be kept secure these days. I've been spending a fair amount of time ensuring that my son who is learning to walk isn't going to kill himself one of the seven million ways that are possible in a normal home. I of course keep relating this to computer security. I'm just a bit weird like that.
The current model of security I'm installing in my house isn't meant to keep an evildoer out, it's meant to keep a resident safe from unsafe things. This isn't much different from most computer users. They don't know what they're doing, and giving them full unbridled access to their computer is probably a bad idea. I'm not advocating DRM here, think the horrible mess that the Windows world faces with most users running as admin, and the damage a virus can do. This is where the concept of not running as root seems perfectly obvious. So now in my house, if I need root access, I can open one of the drawers or gates, while a curious little boy cannot. This can however cause problems for some users. Perhaps there is a user (the dog) who wants to do something as root but doesn't know the password (opposable thumbs). The poor dog is pretty much screwed until I open whatever gate he is stuck behind. Those of you who own dogs also happen to know the saying "a dog is always on the wrong side of a closed door" is very true. This particular user has no idea what he wants, but think he needs root.
I have no realy point to this, just a bizarre observation of the world around me.
