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List:       gnome-devel-list
Subject:    Re: Problems with .gnome-desktop and recursiveness.
From:       Jean-Marc Valin <jean-marc.valin () hermes ! usherb ! ca>
Date:       2000-10-10 13:19:13
Message-ID: 39E31751.CD4BDE56 () hermes ! usherb ! ca
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 > A recursive symlink is very easy to create by accident, so expecting
> 
> Only difference here is that this is created with intent. :-)

There are *tons* of other cases where symlinks will cause problems:

1- If a user has a symlink to /dev/dsp, you will record from the soundcard
indefinitly.

2- If you backup as root and a user has (maliciously or not) a symlink to
/dev/hda, then you're in even bigger trouble.

3- A lot more common - symlinks to large files will duplicate this file in the
backup.

4- Security hole: If I want to see your files, I create a symlink to your
account and then ask for the backup.

5- If I run programs that communicate with a named pipe (OK, it's not a
symlink), your backup process will read from the named pipe and interfere with
the communication.

...and so on...

Add to that the fact that when you create a symlink, it's because you want a
symlink and not a copy of the file, so when you get the backup, it should still
be a symlink. I say if your backup system cannot even handle symlinks properly,
use something else. Are you going to chase every program that uses symlinks?
(besides that tar even handles hard-links properly)

Regards, 

	Jean-Marc


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