Older Posts

Introduction On 2001-09-02, I posted on BugTraq a problem with the combination of using S/Key’s keyinit and the program sudo on a system. This article is a re-phrasing of that message, with some clarifications based upon mail I received in response. Background S/Key’s keyinit(1) S/Key is a one-time password (OTP scheme that is available on many systems, and comes default in FreeBSD 4.x and earlier. It uses program called keyinit to allow a user to re-initialize a sequence.

Introduction Recently RedHat’s Open Source advocacy effort, Open Source Now, sent out a notice about concerns it has over the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). Three issues were of primary concern about the UCITA: Recognition of open source by reference and or definition. Exemption of open source software from mandatory warranties. Exceptions to permit reverse engineering of software. What follows is what I submitted to RedHat, expressing my views on these issues.

Overview This document will delve into a controversial topic: whether or not to write email in HTML, the language web pages are written in. Email is traditionally written in flat text, without any sort of markup; however, this tradition limits the usefulness and power of email, and hence, limits the power of people to communicate effectively. The Bad Rap HTML email gets a bad wrap. When most people think of HTML email, they associate it with spam, ugly messages, and security vulnerabilities.

This following is an excerpt of an email response I sent to my dad, after he mentioned he was reading an article comparing the costs of Linux vs. Windows. Those articles really do get old quickly; for me, at least, cost is a minor factor in deciding one or the other. The general design of and community around unix/linux is a much stronger motivator for me. You can be much more creative with unix; one isn’t reduced to pointing and clicking everything; that is terrible way to go if you want to do anything powerful, automated, or unplanned.