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> rarely used in most installs. I was going to object but you are absolutely right. Most Linux installs are instances of something that are created and destroy
by gnu8 4y ago
> rarely used in most installs.
I was going to object but you are absolutely right. Most Linux installs are instances of something that are created and destroyed without a human ever touching them. However, I wouldn't go so far as to characterize these features as technical debt. A fully functional Linux system should be able to tell users if they have mail, for instance.
- duskwuff 4y ago> Most Linux installs are instances of something that are created and destroyed without a human ever touching them. I'm not just talking about containers or managed servers, though. Most Linux desktop systems rarely or never have a user perform a PAM login in a situation where the mail message would be seen. (Opening a terminal emulator doesn't go through PAM; it starts the shell directly, and logging into X / Wayland might use PAM, but doesn't display login messages.) And, of course, it isn't relevant at all on embedded systems; a lot of those probably aren't even running a getty. > A fully functional Linux system should be able to tell users if they have mail, for instance. Hot take: storing and processing email shouldn't be a required function of the OS. It should be an optional feature, just like serving web pages over HTTP or having a graphical desktop.
- gnu8 4y agoThat’s a good take though. I still hang on to the fantasy of having my mail delivered to my machine like it was big iron, but in the 25 years I have been using Linux it hasn’t happened.