keeping your mailbox secure, even with mailx

[Roy Smith]

In article <5620 at cbrma.att.com> karl at cbrma.att.com (Karl Kleinpaste) writes:
> The set of machines on which I just tried this out includes:
> 
> 	cbrma: VAX-11/780 SysV.0
> 	cbrmb: VAX-11/780 SysV.2.2
> 	cbrmc: PDP-11/70 SysIII
> 	cbrmd: PDP-11/70 SysV.0
> 	cbrme: 3b20 SysV.2.1
> 	cbstr1:3b15 SysV.2.1
> 	bacon: 3b2 SysV.2.0.4
> 	byron: 3b2 SysV.2.0.5
> 
> I daresay that it constitutes a representative sample of systems
> and software.

	Ha!  7 System V machines, and one running System III, and you say
that's a "representative sample of systems and software"?  I can deal with
the fact that you didn't try a v7 machine (there aren't too many of them
left), but have you never heard of Berkeley?

	On my 4.2BSD Vax and my 3.0 Sun (derived from 4.2BSD), mail spool
files are mode 600.  I have worked on a Sequent system (don't remember
which version of Dynix it was, but Dynix is a 4.2 derivitive) and mail
spool files were mode 600 there as well.  There was one person's mailbox
which was always 666, but I don't know if that was something he did on
purpose (or by accident), or something "the system" did.
-- 
Roy Smith, {allegra,cmcl2,philabs}!phri!roy
System Administrator, Public Health Research Institute
455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016

"you can't spell deoxyribonucleic without unix!"