Hi, Holger Wansing <hwans...@mailbox.org> wrote (Mon, 04 Mar 2024 10:43:59 +0100): > Hi, > > Am 4. März 2024 06:17:31 MEZ schrieb Philip Hands <p...@hands.com>: > >I found that there were some phrases that I was avoiding for various > >reasons, a couple of which I see you've used, so I'll say why I was avoiding > >them and see if I have a persuasive argument for doing so. > > > >"allow/deny login/access as root": > > > > The problem here is that not having a password for root only prevents > > one from getting direct access to root by using a password. Indirect > > access is still available via sudo, and direct access is still > > available via key bassed ssh. I was also avoiding saying things like > > "disable the root account" for the same reason. > > > > This is why I ended up with the phrasing: > > > > direct password-based logins to 'root'. > > Ok, seems fair. I would change to that then. > > > > >"using the 'sudo' command": > > > > This I was avoiding becuase it might give the impression that one MUST > > use sudo, whereas most people will actually get their root acces via a > > GUI prompting them for their own pasword (because it's checked that > > they're in the sudo group) when doing things like unlocking their > > network or printer settings. I thought it was worth mentining the > > 'sudo' group explicitly because that gives something to search for if > > they want to find out more, but telling people they need to use the > > sudo command seemed like a step too far. > > Correct so far. Maybe a bit more technical and therefore probably > not the easiest choice for newbies, but I have no problem using that. > > >Regarding the password advice, I ended up concluding that it's pretty > >unlikely that anything we say at this point will have any effect on > >people's behaviour, but then I'm probably just an old cynic. Also, I > >failed when trying to come up with a wording which I was happy with, > >which is why I ended up discarding the advice entirely. > > > >If we want to keep the password advice in then I think what you wrote is > >(mostly) OK, although I think it implies that one should be choosing a > >single "password" (although, not a word in any normal sense), which > >could be argued to steer people away from the perfectly decent xkcd > >approach of using several dictionary words. Saying "Password or > >Passphrase" at least once would probably address that. > > Ok, makes it a bit longer, but it could be worth it. > > I will prepare a new patch with above.
Updated patch attached. Holger -- Holger Wansing <hwans...@mailbox.org> PGP-Fingerprint: 496A C6E8 1442 4B34 8508 3529 59F1 87CA 156E B076
diff --git a/debian/user-setup-udeb.templates b/debian/user-setup-udeb.templates index cdb6d78..437b9d7 100644 --- a/debian/user-setup-udeb.templates +++ b/debian/user-setup-udeb.templates @@ -33,22 +33,21 @@ _Description: Allow login as root? Template: passwd/root-password Type: password # :sl1: -_Description: Root password: - You need to set a password for 'root', the system administrative - account. A malicious or unqualified user with root access can have - disastrous results, so you should take care to choose a root password - that is not easy to guess. It should not be a word found in dictionaries, - or a word that could be easily associated with you. +_Description: Root password/passphrase: + If you want to allow direct password-based login as root, you need to set a + password for 'root', the system administrative account now. + A malicious or unqualified user with root access can have + disastrous results, so you should take care to choose a root + password/passphrase that cannot be guessed. It should not be a word found in + dictionaries, or something that could be easily associated with you. . - A good password will contain a mixture of letters, numbers and punctuation - and should be changed at regular intervals. + You can also leave the password for root empty here, to disable the root + account; the system's initial user account (which will be set up in the next + step) will then be given the power to become root via 'sudo' (by adding it to + the 'sudo' group). . - The root user should not have an empty password. If you leave this - empty, the root account will be disabled and the system's initial user - account will be given the power to become root using the "sudo" - command. - . - Note that you will not be able to see the password as you type it. + Note that you will not be able to see the password as you type it (except if + you choose to show it in clear text). Template: passwd/root-password-again Type: password @@ -109,9 +108,8 @@ _Description: Reserved username Template: passwd/user-password Type: password # :sl1: -_Description: Choose a password for the new user: - A good password will contain a mixture of letters, numbers and punctuation - and should be changed at regular intervals. +_Description: Choose a password/passphrase for the new user: + Make sure to select a strong password/passphrase, that cannot be guessed. Template: passwd/user-password-again Type: password
