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> To get programs on your Mac that cause real trouble I think this is the big fallacy of the UNIX security model. Every program you download can delete your ho
by gurkendoktor 14y ago
> To get programs on your Mac that cause real trouble
I think this is the big fallacy of the UNIX security model. Every program you download can delete your home folder without warning, it only can't mess up the OS (and other users, but those are increasingly rare). That's terrible because restoring /System is the easiest thing in the world, restoring user data isn't. I think you can't delete Time Machine backups without admin rights, but malware could easily purge TM with an artificial mammoth file too.
I am super paranoid about downloading software to my work Mac even from the App Store. And even for iOS I only try random free apps on my iPad where I don't have my address book synced.
- Turing_Machine 14y agoiOS apps don't have access to a home folder, and the new Sandbox model for OS X is that way, too. Each app has its own folder, with no access to the folders of other apps. There are APIs to access data from other apps that share it (for example photos and the address book, so you're right to be wary there), but no direct access to arbitrary folders. This is both good and bad, of course. It forces you to jump through hoops if you legitimately need access, and makes certain types of programs difficult/impossible to write.
- gurkendoktor 14y agomyspy is talking about OS X in the present tense.
- Turing_Machine 14y agoPresent tense? Apps in the Mac App store have to use the sandbox as of June 1. It's hard to get more "present" than that. :-)