On Fri, Mar 07, 2003 at 01:10:29PM -0500, Gary MacDougall wrote: > > The price of freedom is costly. >
There is an important on-topic security issue here, albeit one as old as
civilisation itself: should the state rule the citizen, or the citizen
rule the state?
If you believe the rulers should decide the great goals, how things
should be, and what is to be allowed, you can expect to live in a state
where you can feel safe so long as you obey the curfew. Switzerland
takes this position, and does it quite well.
If you believe that the rulers should facilitate citizens, their whims
and desires, you can expect to live in a state where you act as your own
counsel when you walk down a dark street at night. Britain takes this
position, and does it quite well.
Traditionally, the USA has been followed the latter approach - facing
great risk (and sometimes great loss) in the pursuit of great victories.
Speaking as a Brit, I'd be sad to see America move towards a more
ordered society, but it's your society and you can run it how you like.
Now, I promised that this was on-topic, so I'd better back that up
before the rulers of debian-security decide I'm contravening their great
goals :)
A server works much like a state - it has rulers (administrators) and
citizens (users). We, the administrators, have to decide the society
which is right for our servers. If you're serving static content over
the web, the more you guide your disinterested users, the happier
they'll be. If (like me) you're running a general-purpose system for
keen, knowledgeable users, you should bend to their desires - or be
labeled a BOFH.
- Andrew
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