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From: Nathan Hand <nathan.hand@anu.edu.au>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.linux.x,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux needs more work to be done!
Date: 03 Jul 1997 22:50:00 +1000
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pih100@york.ac.uk (Paul Halliday) writes:
> Is this the same effect as running several callocs in an infinite loop?
> e.g. For simplicity;
>
> main()
> {
> for(;;)
> calloc(10000, 8);
> }
>
> ...
>
> Unfortunately this hole allows anyone to break a Linux box at will which
> doesn't bode well for it if run as, say, a central unix server. Personally
> I broke it with a single large calloc when doing a physics project some
> months ago and now worry as much about breaking Linux by doing anything
> useful as I do about running any of the MS rubbish.
> Considering it's always been around, it's surprising it's never been fixed
Read the bash(1) manpage and look at the stuff on ulimit.
Resource hogging is a problem on any time-sharing system and linux
is not exempt. Most solutions are pretty draconian, so admins tend
to hope it never happens, rather than prevent it happening.
--
The idea that an arbitrary naive human should be able to properly use
a given tool without training or understanding is even more wrong for
computing than it is for other tools (eg automobiles, airplanes, guns
or power saws).