full-disclosure - Re: Microsoft Patents the "sudo" command

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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:27:30 -0500
From: "McGhee, Eddie" <Eddie.McGhee@....com>
To: "Todd C. Miller" <Todd.Miller@...rtesan.com>, Leandro Malaquias
	<lm.net.security@...il.com>
Cc: "full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk" <full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Microsoft Patents the "sudo" command

Total propaganda, if you read it properly you will see.. Ms will not ever own or patent the sudo command. They offer a list of accounts which will be needed when elevated privileges are required.. Sudo doesn't do anything like this at all..

Long live Unix commands, down with the cmd. 

-----Original Message-----
From: full-disclosure-bounces@...ts.grok.org.uk [mailto:full-disclosure-bounces@...ts.grok.org.uk] On Behalf Of Todd C. Miller
Sent: 12 November 2009 15:36
To: Leandro Malaquias
Cc: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
Subject: Re: [Full-disclosure] Microsoft Patents the "sudo" command

In message <4AFC1708.7040508@...il.com>
	so spake Leandro Malaquias (lm.net.security):

> Website: http://gizmodo.com/5402796/microsoft-patents-the-sudo-command
> Patent: 
> http://patft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=P
> ALL&p=1 
> &u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,617,530.PN.&OS=PN/7,617
> ,530&RS
> =PN/7,617,530

This doesn't sound like it would cover sudo to me, or even a GUI-wrapper for sudo.  While I am not a patent attorney, I have been hacking on sudo for the past 15+ years.

My reading of the patent indicates that it is geared towards GUI-based environments where the user may need to perform some action (such as setting the clock in a control panel) that requires increased privileges.  The actual "invention" appears to be that the user is able to perform an action as a different user without having to type in the name of that other user when authenticating.  One example given in that patent is the ability to click on a name in a list of privileged users as opposed to having to type in a user name.

Sudo simply doesn't work this way.

 - todd

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_______________________________________________
Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/