[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
OpenBSD vs FreeBSD
--- begin forwarded text
Resent-Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 11:43:47 -0500
To: [email protected]
Subject: OpenBSD vs FreeBSD
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 11:47:08 -0500
From: glen mccready <[email protected]>
Resent-From: [email protected]
Resent-Sender: [email protected]
Forwarded-by: Nev Dull <[email protected]>
Forwarded-by: Satya Palani <[email protected]>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1998 20:44:53 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Watson <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: OpenBSD vs FreeBSD
On 5 Dec 1998, Julian Assange wrote:
>> Do you really expect people here, on this list to say
>> "Use OpenBSD" or "Use Linux" or etc?
>
> `Use NetBSD'
Use a toaster oven. Toaster ovens have excellent network security
characteristics. For example, they are not susceptible to any IMAP-based
buffer overflow attacks; additionally, current toaster ovens are not known
to have any bugs in their TCP/IP stacks, nor have been vulnerable to any
in the recent past (according to CERT advisories, anyway). Toaster ovens
require console access to perform administrative functions (such as
modification of temperature settings), but this will not impede deployment
in a number of environment.
Toaster ovens may be vulnerable to a remote denial of service attack
involving manipulation of power lines -- however, most operating systems
running on standard hardware are also vulnerable to this attack.
I have found that my toaster oven has served me well for a number of
years, and produces excellent grilled cheese sandwiches, which is far
better than my pentium running FreeBSD, largely because the cooling fan
on the pentium does too good a job. Go figure. Maybe if I get a pentium
pro? Neither my FreeBSD box nor my toaster oven has suffered from a
security problem in a while.
Robert N Watson
[email protected] http://www.watson.org/~robert/
PGP key fingerprint: 03 01 DD 8E 15 67 48 73 25 6D 10 FC EC 68 C1 1C
Carnegie Mellon University http://www.cmu.edu/
TIS Labs at Network Associates, Inc. http://www.tis.com/
SafePort Network Services http://www.safeport.com/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1998 21:44:36 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Watson <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: OpenBSD vs FreeBSD
On Sun, 6 Dec 1998, Robert Watson wrote:
> Use a toaster oven. Toaster ovens have excellent network security
> characteristics. For example, they are not susceptible to any IMAP-based
> buffer overflow attacks; additionally, current toaster ovens are not known
A friend of mine points out that toaster ovens are susceptible to a buffer
overflow involving pieces of bread exceeding the safe bread limit in the
oven, which can result in a fire, or at the very least, a lot of burnt
bread. As such, I am no longer planning to deploy toaster ovens as web
servers on our network.
Apologies for any misleading details concerning the reliability of toaster
ovens in hostile environments -- I hope no one has made purchasing
decisions based on this misinformation!
Robert N Watson
[email protected] http://www.watson.org/~robert/
PGP key fingerprint: 03 01 DD 8E 15 67 48 73 25 6D 10 FC EC 68 C1 1C
Carnegie Mellon University http://www.cmu.edu/
TIS Labs at Network Associates, Inc. http://www.tis.com/
SafePort Network Services http://www.safeport.com/
--- end forwarded text
-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: [email protected]>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'