Re: If rbash is worthless, why not remove it and decrease bloat?

[Chet Ramey]

On 3/15/13 4:01 PM, Linda Walsh wrote:

> Perhaps it would be doing a favor to users and allow some minor code
> cleanup to simply get rid of the 'rbash'/restricted functionality.

It's already an optional feature.  You can easily remove it by configuring
bash with `--disable-restricted'.  That's not the default for historical
reasons.

> It sounds like the idea isn't worth the increased bloat.
> 
> If it cannot be removed, then some people are using it with the false
> expectation that it provides some increased security.  Better to get
> rid of that than have someone think it is worth the extra bytes it takes
> to implement.

Folks cling tightly to their ideas about what should and should not be in
bash and how it should behave.  I'm comfortable with leaving the restricted
shell feature in the current state and allowing users or distributions to
disable it at their option.  The `bloat' is not significant enough to be a
factor.

Chet

-- 
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
                 ``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU    chet@case.edu    http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/