[Info-vax] CLI editing, was: Re: VMS - Virtual Terminals - A security risk way back yonder OR was that an Old Wives Tale ?

William Pechter pechter at pechter.net
Sun Feb 14 18:13:33 EST 2016


In article <n9qmvv$578$1 at Iltempo.Update.UU.SE>,
Johnny Billquist  <bqt at softjar.se> wrote:
>On 2016-02-14 20:01, Steven Schweda wrote:
>>> [...] on most systems I know of nowadays, no shell
>>> is linked static. And most I've checked install all shells
>>> in /bin.
>>
>>     Did you check the ones in /sbin on HP-UX?
>
>I haven't seen HP-UX live in about 15 years... And back when I did, I 
>don't even know if they had dynamic libraries at all.
>
>But Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OS X all have the shells in /bin, as far as 
>I can tell, and all have them linked dynamically.
>
>/sbin would be a very strange place to put any shells, or commonly used 
>binaries. It's mostly a place where you would place system binaries that 
>would be needed for standalone use, which are not commonly used by 
>normal users. But Unix-like systems have such varied and confusing 
>directory structures...
>
>	Johnny
>
>-- 
>Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
>                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
>email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
>pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

/sbin was where the statically linked maintenance tools were... 

IIRC there was a statically linked shell on a number of the Unix Systems
in the 80s and 90's.   I remember a screwed up upgrade of libc on Solaris 
4.1 (caused by someone adding -- poorly -- the DNS Resolver+ code
to allow nameserver lookup without using Yellow Pages on Solaris 1.1 (SunOS4).

ls didn't work.  Had to poke around and use internals from the shell
like echo * to see what directory I was in by reference to fix it.

As far as what is a "Unix" -- the legal definition is that it had to be
approved by the Open Group's verification... since that was $$$ none of the
pc based BSD's could afford to get certified as Unix.  

It's interesting to note they're a lot more "Unix" than IBM's VM which
made the certification back when VMS was doing the "OpenVMS" thing
and adding a Unix like shell and capabilities.  IBM actually had theirs
certified IIRC.


Bill

Bill
-- 
-- 
Digital had it then.  Don't you wish you could buy it now!
pechter-at-gmail.com  http://xkcd.com/705/



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