Firewall Wizards mailing list archives
Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ?
From: Darren Reed <darrenr () reed wattle id au>
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 23:13:41 +1100 (EST)
In some email I received from Steve George, sie wrote: [...]
This does make me laugh slighty, given that we will now have to pay for exactly the same thing that we purchase normally, just in a different state ie compiled. No doubt we won't be purchasing the ability to actually DO anything with the code ie sell my 'altered' version of Gauntlet. I now have to pay to have the option of checking if the FW is secure: and I won't even dignify the 'this keeps non-serious people away' with a reply.
So you've had access to it in the past, correct ? How many bugs did you find when you checked the source then for its security then ? What you've now got to ask yourself is will you actually do anything useful with the source code, once purchased, given the nature of the license that comes with it ? As much as I like to have source code to play with, I don't have the time to review the entirity of some other company's work. How many people read all the way through Linux before using it on a firewall, even just their ip firewalling code ? I think the argument about needing to have it available in case you decide to examine it is a somewhat bogus argument. On the other hand, having source available so you can add personalised hacks is always useful or when trying to write your own programs to interface with something else. But unless you intend on staying at the same job for some time, adding personalised hacks can easily lead you astray down the path of creating an unmaintainable system...from the original hacktest questionaire: 0241 Is your job secure? 0242 ... Do you have code to prove it? ...whether that's a professional attitude to take, I'll leave to you. Darren
Current thread:
- RE: Gauntlet: source code anyone ?, (continued)
- RE: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? ark (Mar 22)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? Steve George (Mar 22)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? Darren Reed (Mar 22)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? David C Niemi (Mar 23)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? Frederick M Avolio (Mar 23)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? Marcus J. Ranum (Mar 23)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? Darren Reed (Mar 22)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? philipsholt (Mar 23)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? Steve George (Mar 23)
- Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ? Darren Reed (Mar 24)