Re: DNS woes

[Jonathan Q <jq@example.com>]

Jean-Christian Imbeault (jean_christian@example.com) wrote:

> I guess they assume that people with the know-how install servers and people 
> with less know-how (average Joe) install workstations.

Which is exactly why a workstation should have no services enabled
by default.  They're leaving the people with the least knowledge
of both how and why they should disable services in the most 
vulernable position - with lots of unnecessary services enabled.
I have *all* services removed from /etc/xinetd.d removed, and
the system works fine that way, so they really ought to disable
them by default in any install.

> I can kind of understand their logic. Can you imagine how frustrated Joe 
> would be if after doing a worstation installation he wasn't able to connect 
> to the net? He'd just give up Linux right away ...

Connecting to the net really has nothing to do with whether or not
you have all services disabled by default.  That has to do with setting
up a dial-up connection, something you have to do anyway.
And as a said before, the installer should include a step to 
specifically enable any services you want enabled, and explain
why you might or might not want to enable that service.  

> I know I would have given up in frustration ... figuring out that the 
> services were disabled and how to enable them would have taken me too long. 
> Actaully I woudn't have even known what a "service" was :) That's how much 
> of a newbie I would have been.

I need to suggest that anyone installing any operating system should
read enough documentation to know that prior to setting out.  Granted,
lots of people don't, and the amount of pre-install documentation read
tends to be inversely proportional to the general experience level of the
person doing the install, but it's something people ought to do anyway.
Slick installers are neat, and I enjoy them too - they make my job
easier - but they do have a dark side, in that they encourage people
with little experience to just do the install, and set them up for
trouble by enabling all those services.  That's the main reason why
there are so many owned Linux boxes all over the Internet - installers
that consistently do The Wrong Thing.

Jonathan