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11/12/09
RunAs command has existed in Windows for ages. But running as under simple user and using RunAs for administrative tasks is very inconvenient (like in Linux).
Elevation mechanism is a clever idea by Microsoft to improve Windows security with only small inconvenience for users.
I think the idea is clever enough to be patented. Over time the feature proved even more useful than it was originally thought because users blamed UAC which did not ask for passwords.
I personally could not come up with UAC idea. I would try to force sudo (RunAs) model on users which would have been a terrible mistake.
I even think that UAC is much more secure than sudo (RunAs) because, for instance, in my case I have very lengthy Windows password because I don’t need to enter it too often. On the other hand, I have short dictionary-based root password in my linux installations because I need it very often. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
So, they patented GKSudo? #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
Actually, it could be tons of other things.
But I'm shure Microsoft haters will find in this yet another reason to call it evil or whatever. Have fun.
Sounds more like a patent to protect itself from random unknown companies or "inventors" that comes out of nowhere claiming they made the patent first and sueing for ridiculous ammounts of money.
On another note, serious question here, has Microsoft ever sued other companies with frivolous reasons?
Answer is probably yes, but I can't remember anything like that.
You know, like Apple sueing fruits companies or colleges/universities for using a logo that looks like... you know, apples. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
It's about a system that automatically detects that a security elevation is required, then offers to elevate by offering a list of accounts that have the required rights.
It's about automatically detecting the permission problem and then offering other accounts. None of which sudo does.
And before you say, no OS X or Ubunto or Vista don't do that either, they don't detect the security required, the prompts we get before doing something are coded in the apps and not automatic.
Groklaw is just propanga. They are just posting their fake headlines to support their viewpoint and they're as much law consultants or analyst as Perez is a Hilton. It's basically FoxNews for patent and FOSS. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
"This may be enabled in various ways. In one case, there are two accounts, one with limited rights and one with higher or unlimited rights. Each account has the same name and password, ...
In another embodiment, there is one account having two tags; one tag is associated with limited rights and one tag is associated with higher rights. ...
sudo doesn't do this. This is for UAC. Apparently MS picked the second implementation for Vista/7.
11/12/09
My point being, it is as near to the opposite of MS as is possible. A quick look at the sudo Wikipedia article indicates its something "very similar". My issue is that MS is patenting less the command, more of the function. This assumes they're doing so for future profit. IMO, this is unacceptable. Find your own proprietary method of fixing one of your primary security vulnerabilities, Microsoft!!
Fin. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
Systems and/or methods are described that enable a user to elevate his or her rights. In one embodiment, these systems and/or methods present a user interface identifying an account having a right to permit a task in response to the task being prohibited based on a user's current account not having that right.
I would imagine they didn't directly get the patent just for the "sudo" command, but more for to prevent someone else to patent such a process--just to keep things like the UAC's "Need an administrator password to complete this action" prompts, and things like that scot free with the law. However, the result of which is that, yeah, they basically just patented sudo and variants of that.
EDIT: Confusing, rephrasing.
11/12/09
People from Slashdot have already critiqued this to death and the general consensus on the pro-Linux Slashdot is that it's not sudo and this is probably MS filing a defensive patent application so as to ward off potential future lawsuits. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
However, while IANAL, it would seem that OSX's "enter an administrator username and password to continue" screens, that certainly pre-date the filing of this patent, are quite similar, and should likely count as prior art. The main "invention" here, seems to be the pre-populating of a list of user accounts that have the permissions to perform the requested task. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
The best part, being when Growlaw goes all nuclear over a piece of boilerplate that is in pretty much every patent out there.
sigh...... #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
The sentence I'm referencing: ''It appears that Microsoft has just patented sudo, a personalized version of it." and later '' It's sudo. With a gui. Sudo for Dummies.'' #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
11/12/09
sudo clothes -off #microsoftsudopatent
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11/12/09
scroll down to the paragraph titled "BACKGROUND" #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
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11/12/09
What you've quoted is not the "patent claim," but rather the abstract, which has no practical legal significance in defining the scope of the patent.
The claims define patent scope, and these claims include many features that go well beyond what sudo ever did. Whether it would have been obvious to *modify* sudo to do these things is a separate point--it's a facile mischaracterization of this patent to say that MS has "patented sudo."
(It's worth noting that a substantial amount of prior art relating to sudo was disclosed and considered by the PTO in the prosecution of this patent, which strongly cuts against the "obvious to modify" question raised above--the PTO is clearly aware of sudo, and has determined that these claims are patentably distinct from it.) #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
11/12/09
...
"Seriously?"
"Yes... or else I'll format C: and partition your bodies until your own chkdsk's won't recognize the fragments!"
...
"/sigh" #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
or else I'll mkdosfs -vF 32 /dev/hda #microsoftsudopatent