Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!smh From: smh@mit-eddie.UUCP (Steven M. Haflich) Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards Subject: re: funny characters in filenames Message-ID: <546@mit-eddie.UUCP> Date: Thu, 4-Aug-83 20:39:08 EDT Article-I.D.: mit-eddie.546 Posted: Thu Aug 4 20:39:08 1983 Date-Received: Fri, 5-Aug-83 10:40:48 EDT References: <3672@sri-arpa.UUCP> Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA Lines: 19 All this discussion about allowing/disallowing funny chars in filenames has missed that sometimes (rarely) one really wants a funny char in a filename: for security. For example, system administrators at academic sites with limited disk space can reduce the number of private copies of games by protecting sources (and even executables) behind `untypable' pathnames. It doesn't work against real gurus, but it can make a big difference. Depending on the uniformity and baudrate of the local terminals, a filename with a CURSOR_UP at the end of a filename can be essentially *invisible* to many forms of the ls command (alas, it was so on V7, but not so on 4.1, etc.). The above may seem somewhat frivolous, but I could also imagine similarly protecting a cron-invoked security demon (you know, one of those things that searches for strange setuid files, etc) behind such protection. Why make it easy? No, I don't use this method myself, but I have seen it used elsewhere. Steve Haflich, ...!genrad!mit-eddie!smh