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List:       bugtraq
Subject:    Re: Write-only devices (Was read only devices) [via LSMTP - see
From:       der Mouse <mouse () Collatz ! McRCIM ! McGill ! EDU>
Date:       1996-06-24 20:16:28
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> An advantage of paper over magnetic records is that they are human
> readable.  Rightly or wrongly, important people such as law
> enforcement, lawyers and juries tend to trust paper more than
> magnetic records.

They're harder to doctor after the fact, though of course they're
equally easy to _fake_ after the fact.

>> Where's the problem ??
[with using a logging machine]
> In a word: complexity.  Cheap 9-pin printers are simple, reliable and
> understandable.  Linux boxes are complicated and go wrong more often
> and in mysterious ways.  On the other hand, their great advantages
> are higher storage density and more powerful log analysis tools.

You could get the best of both worlds, you know.  Hook up three RS-232
connectors, such that the transmit pin of the log-generator machine
drives the receive pins of both the printer and the log-keeping
machine.  Then you have logs in softcopy form to slice and dice with
analysis tools, plus you have a hardcopy trail in case you have to
produce something in a court that doesn't recognize that magnetic media
are just as good as paper.

                                        der Mouse

                            mouse@collatz.mcrcim.mcgill.edu

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