Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!iuvax!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxe.cso.uiuc.edu!mcdonald
From: mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Diskless NeXT's??
Message-ID: <245300019@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 10 Aug 89 19:59:00 GMT
References: <192101@<1989Aug8>
Lines: 31
Nf-ID: #R:<1989Aug8:192101:uxe.cso.uiuc.edu:245300019:000:1626
Nf-From: uxe.cso.uiuc.edu!mcdonald    Aug 10 14:59:00 1989



>Instead of trashing the "world on a disk" concept NeXT could implement an
>operating system in which the system files would remain in the machine and
>files needed to customize and run the system would be on the users floptical.
>This would allow Joe user to be king of his environment, and would let the
>workstation retain enough integrity to be a functioning, secure member of the
>network. Whenever Joe NMIs however, it would only dump his customizations, the
>system would remain intact. Thus Joe gets all the power of being standalone
>yet has access to the network.

I don't understand this. I get my NeXt in a box. I take it out and
plug it in. I install the operating system, making myself root. What
do you want to prohibit me from doing? I paid for a machine to do
my bidding. Are you proposing that machine come from the factory set
so the purchaser can't become root, or that root be unable to do
certain things? If you can't do certain things, like write to
certain disk blocks (where the security code is) what happens if
one of those blocks get corrupted and some important feature of the
machine is disabled?  How does it get fixed if I can't boot from
the optical? This whole scheme sounds impractical.

Or are you proposing some scheme such as having a serial number
permanently in the machine so that to boot as root from the
optical you have to know the number? This is of course OK in itself,
so long as the operating system is bundled with the hardware,
but is rendered objectionable as it could lead to other copy
protected software. I would not buy such a machine, but others
might.

Doug McDonald