Re: ISA slot detection on PCI systems?

Eric S. Raymond
2002-01-02T22:48:04Z

Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>:
> > But you're thinking like a developer, not a user. The right question
> > is which approach requires the lowest level of *user* privilege to get
> > the job done. Comparing world-readable /proc files versus a setuid app,
> > the answer is obvious. This sort of thing is exactly what /proc is *for*.
>
> Both require the same level of user privilege.
>
> cat /proc/wasteofmemory/dmi | dmidecoder
> v
> /sbin/dmidump | dmidecoder

What? Perhaps we're talking at cross-prorposes here. What I'm proposing
is that /proc/dmi should be a world-readable /proc file with the property
that
cat /proc/dmi

gives you a DMI report. No root privileges or SUID programs needed.
Surely that would be an improvement on having to run Arjan's dmidecode as
root or requiring it to be SUID.
--
Eric S. Raymond

No one who's seen it in action can say the phrase "government help" without
either laughing or crying.