I had a feeling that was what was happening :) Is this user a UNIX newbie
and still quite attached to DOS/Windows in some manner? ;) I think DOS
has a NUL device (with one L). <shrug>
On Mon, 12 Feb 2001, Gustav Schaffter wrote:
> Confession/explanation:
>
> I was in a huge hurry. I did not have the five minutes that my user
> asked me for and I did not investigate his problem thoroughly before
> asking the question. I acted without thinking. (Sigh.)
>
> Now I have the time to think. The other 'very urgent' problem is solved
> and I can breath.
>
> See my explanations below. (If interested.)
>
>
> Johannes Eriksson wrote:
> <snip>
> > /dev/nul on a redhat system? Which package does it belong to? Did
> > you symlink it to /dev/null or mknod it yourself?
>
> Of course not. I should have realized this myself. Actually, in a moment
> of strong stress *I* created it by redirecting some stuff to /dev/nul as
> root, just to show that it worked. RH nicely created the *file*
> /dev/nul, which I have now rm'ed. (Sigh.)
>
> And no, it wasn't a break in. I'm behind a very solid (though not
> unbreakable) firewall. I'm on top of the RH erratas. I read my logs.
> ipchains, portsentry, logcheck. DMZ.
>
> I just need to protect my systems from myself. :-) I'm running twelve
> PCs in two home networks for me and my family. I try to do this during
> evenings, and *still* be able to spend time with my kids. And my bike.
> And my wife. (In no particular order. ;-)
>
>
> <snip>
> > > If the same user tries to:
> > >
> > > any_command | /dev/null
> > > ^^^^
> > > it works fine.
> >
> > I doubt it. That command would results in a broken pipe unless
> > /dev/null is an executable program.
>
> You're right. Again. (Sigh)
>
> > > I'm surpriced. Why is /dev/nul reserved for root? What could a user harm
> > > by sending stuff to /dev/nul ? And what's the difference between
> > > /dev/nul and /dev/null ?
> >
> > First, teach your users proper redirection:
> >
> > some_command < /dev/null (for redirecting standard input)
> > some_command > /dev/null (for redirecting standard output)
>
> That, and teach *me* not to just accept any statements from my users
> (i.e. family members) without thinking.
>
>
> > Then, if you really need a /dev/nul file, create it (as root):
> > # mknod /dev/nul c 1 3
> > # chmod 666 /dev/nul
> >
> > That would allow users to use either /dev/nul or /dev/null, but why?
>
>
> Yes, why? (No answer to that one. ;-)
>
>
> Sorry to spend your time and bandwidth with this crap. Thanks anyhow to
> all of you that answered.
>
> Best regards
> Gustav
>
>
--
-Statux
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