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Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 17:34:19 -0500
From: "Eric S. Raymond" <esr@thyrsus.com>
To: Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>
Cc: Dave Jones <davej@suse.de>,
        Linux Kernel List <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: ISA slot detection on PCI systems?
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Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>:
> > But you're thinking like a developer, not a user.  The right question
> > is which approach requires the lowest level of *user* privilege to get
> > the job done.  Comparing world-readable /proc files versus a setuid app,
> > the answer is obvious.  This sort of thing is exactly what /proc is *for*.
> 
> Both require the same level of user privilege. 
> 
> 	cat /proc/wasteofmemory/dmi | dmidecoder
> v
> 	/sbin/dmidump | dmidecoder

What?  Perhaps we're talking at cross-prorposes here.  What I'm proposing
is that /proc/dmi should be a world-readable /proc file with the property
that 
	cat /proc/dmi

gives you a DMI report.  No root privileges or SUID programs needed.
Surely that would be an improvement on having to run Arjan's dmidecode as
root or requiring it to be SUID.
-- 
		<a href="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a>

No one who's seen it in action can say the phrase "government help" without
either laughing or crying.
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