[gentoo-user] Re: sudo in kernel config ?

[Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de>]

On 09/11/2010 11:35 PM, Dale wrote:
> Alan McKinnon wrote:
>> Apparently, though unproven, at 11:46 on Saturday 11 September 2010,
>> Albert
>> Hopkins did opine thusly:
>>
>>> On Sat, 2010-09-11 at 10:24 +0200, Stéphane Guedon wrote:
>>>> few months ago, I read linux kernel in a nutschell(sic), and the author
>>>> wrote we shouldn't do kernel operations (config and build) as root.
>>> I call bullsh*t. I've been compiling kernels for 17 years and for the
>>> most part have done it as root without any problems.
>> Same here.
>>
>> The root user (sometimes portage) creates /usr/src/linux-*
>>
>> Someone tell me again exactly how user alan is supposed to build those
>> sources?
>>
>
> If they are accessible by a user, couldn't a user then edit or add
> something that would then cause a security problem? If they can edit
> them and no one know it, then root comes along and builds a shiney new
> kernel with a really nice security hole.
>
> Glad only root can get to the sources. ;-)

No, any user can't edit them; only the user you assign the files to. If 
you assign them to root, only root can edit them. If you assign them to 
kerneluser, only kerneluser can edit them.

This is Unix 101 :)