rm etc. (was: Nasty Security Hole?)

[Joseph S. D. Yao]

> ?  This is wrong, of course: the names go on the lines ...
> Strictly speaking, yes. However, if you limit the discussion to
> directorys only, and don't allow hard links to directorys (a practice
> even I have resisted), then you can move the names into the (i)nodes. 

            [/]
	     |
	  ---------------
	 /(bin)		 \(etc)
	[/]		[/]
	 \(telinit)	 /(init)
	  ---------------
		|
	    [ _____ ]

Now, tell me, please, in this real-life situation (and I don't care
whether you don't think System V is real life), which name should go
in the little box in the bottom?  Is it "init"?  or "telinit"?
(Sneaky me - neither fits, in this picture!)

In the path names "/bin/telinit" and "/etc/init", the words "bin",
"etc", "telinit", and "init" name path components.  The nodes them-
selves are reached by these path components, and the components are
separated by "/", designating a node gone through.

And it's not worth arguing a whole lot about, unless a false world-
view somehow messes up your ability to correctly analyze a situation
or write a proper program.

Joe Yao (still @Hadron)