[Info-vax] Unexpected DECnet Phase IV functionality with possible captive account implications

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2021-05-11 18:30:01 +0000, Dave Froble said:

> Which of them allow:
> 
> Open "DFE90A::[DFE]DATA.DAT" For Input as File #1%
> 
> Assuming proxys are set appropriately.
> 
> Please don't reply with:
> 
> Open "DFE90A"DFE XXX"::[DFE]DATA.DAT" For Input as File #1%
> 
> If I even remember how to do that correctly ...

What you're doing with RMS and FAL is entirely feasible, though through 
different means.

MOUNT the remote system, and access it locally. With newer systems, 
that'd usually be an SMB mount, though OpenVMS lacks modern storage 
connections. On OpenVMS, it'd be NFS, or maybe DFS. Then aim SQLite at 
it, etc.

Or with newer applications, the access would be ODBC, or a message 
queue, or—closest to what you're doing—with the database directly e.g. 
MariaDB and the mysql -u RemoteUser -p -h 203.0.113.13 command, etc.

This whole area—FAL, RMS, the file system itself, remote mounts, 
database support—is dated, as compared with the other platforms many of 
us are now working with.

And in more general terms, I am un-fond of exposing the database 
structures remotely whether by classic FAL and RMS or file share or 
otherwise, as that makes modifications more difficult. Modifying an RMS 
database when its internal structures have escaped the API layer and 
becomes known to apps is un-fun. q.v. SYSUAF.DAT, etc. Which further 
reduces my interest in using FAL and RMS, beyond discussions of the 
authentication and encryption issues. And anybody still using FAL and 
RMS and DECnet almost assuredly already knows about this difficulty.

My preference would be to move out of RMS for storage for many 
production apps, though that migration is less than easy for entrenched 
configurations, and any migration necessarily incremental for many.

> Judged for use today, yes, the original development should not be 
> judged by today, unless a time machine was available to the developers.

If DECnet is in use today, then it is a risk today, and can be or is 
targeted today.





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