Daniel Mueller wrote:
You are comparing apples and oranges. There are lots of alternatives for RPM (dpkg, pkgutils, ..). If you want your linux box joining a corporate network with centralized password management (ldap, samba/ad or kerberos) -> PAM is your (only) choice (AND YES: I know about "NIS" which works fully PAM-less and is insecure as hell AND I know various commercial products I don't want to talk about 'cause they just suck).
But. How many CRUX users are connecting to corporate networks via ldap, samba, or kerberos? Apparently you are..but let's make sure you're not a minority in this instance. I run NIS here for our ~20 node CRUX office with no complaints. I'm not saying that PAM isn't an option. But I was present at CC2K4 when it was unanimously considered bloat for this distro.
Besides of the fact that you will get the possibility to join a corporate network with centralized password management, imagine the following scenario:
You've got a brand-new laptop. Your new laptop has the disadvantage of being a popular object of desire for pilferers. The harddisk contains most likely private data (e.g. nude pics of your girlfriend). It's a good idea to encrypt those private files. I hear you saying "Bah, no problem, I don't need PAM for this". Okay; you would probably create some container files in your home directory and mount them if needed. Now let's imagine the thief is a smart one and he's looking for tracks in your home directory (.bash_history, .kde/*, .gnome/*, thumbails/* ..). With PAM (pam_mount) it's possible to mount encrypted filesystems during the logon session. That means you could encrypt your whole home directory and mount it automaticlly during login. After you've logged out, PAM will unmount it for you.
Wtf? Again, sorry, how does this even relate to, nevermind help, the majority of CRUX users? No offense intended..I'm just.. wow (?) But can I have those nudes? -- Jay Dolan jdolan.dyndns.org A: Because it's annoying to read. Q: Why is top-posting bad? A: Top posting. Q: What's the most annoying thing about usenet?