Wolfgang_Naegeli.ED_TSRS@QM01.CTD.ORNL.GOV (Wolfgang Naegeli) (02/02/90)
Reply to: RE>TelNet security John DeRosa <motcid!derosa@uunet.uu.net> writes: > IS NCSA LISTENING? The 25 dollar question is, why didn't > NCSA just write telnet to look in the system folder in the first > place for a file called mypassfile? If it isn't there then there > are no passwords... I do not agree! Ireally have a problem with all the poorly written applications that look for support files in the System Folder and nowhere else. I now have over 100 files in my system folder, which slows down things considerably and makes it more time-consuming to find things. I believe that the System Folder should be reserved for System files and such, e.g. Debugger, AppleTalk, Macintalk, startup documents, etc. Apple should have structured the System Folder much better by establishing specs, such as requiring INITs to be placed in a folder called "Startup," for example, and RDEVs in a folder called "Chooser," etc. I understand that in System 7.0 there will be an "Apple" folder and that any DAs or applications put into it will automatically appear under the Apple menu. That is definitely the right direction and I hope they also have implemented someting along the lines of my above suggestions for the rest. Some third party vendors have started to check for specific folders within the System Folder too. For example the newer Claris products look inside the "Claris" folder. CE Software products look for a Folder matching their name inside a "Preferences" folder within the System Folder. The latter looks like the better approach. While the "Claris" folder helps, I'd rather see it inside a "Preferences" or some such folder than directly in the System Folder. There should also be a "Dictionaries" folder, and I hope that Software developers will get together and adopt a very limited number of standards for this. It is ridiculous if you have to keep three incompatible dictionaries that are all based on Webster's, for example. A well written application should be capable of learning where its support files are, prompting for the path if it can't find what it needs. NCSA's approach is not very user-friendly, but it is sound from a system point of view. Wolfgang N. Naegeli Oak Ridge National Laboratory Internet: wnn@ornl.gov Bitnet: wnn@ornlstc Phone: 615-574-6143 Fax: 615-574-3895