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Microsoft's Pseudo Sudo Patent
Microsoft Patents The Sudo Command
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| posts about #microsoftsudopatent more → |
Microsoft's Pseudo Sudo Patent |
Microsoft Patents The Sudo Command |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/16/09
Simply presenting a list instead of a name/password dialog? That's patentable? #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
A lot of people get hung up on OS X (and gksudo). But even though the functionality appears nearly identical, the implementation of that functionality differs. Neither OS X, nor gksudo implement the elevation functionality in a way that is covered by the UAC patent. Same functionality, but different implementation.
The important thing to remember is that the abstract of a patent is only to help you understand what the 'invention' is about, it has no legal weight. The important part a patent is its claims, and those tend to be very specific. I personally am not a fan of the patent system as it exists today, but at the same time I would estimate that 90% of patent hate would go away if people would learn to read the claims, not the abstracts. #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
11/16/09
You're not allowed to make funnier comments than myself, you'll be hearing from my lawyer. #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
11/16/09
"...there is a Linux tool called PolicyKit... created after the (Microsoft) patent was filed." #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
11/16/09
-Signed
Microsoft. #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
"Sudo All your Sudo are belong to us."
"Okay." #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
11/16/09
Yes/No #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
Gizmodo's mantra sometimes seems to be:
=IF("Story about Microsoft"="Bad PR for them", "Don't fact Check", "Fact Check") #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
("story about ms" == "bad pr") ? "dont fact check" : "fact check";
11/16/09
Edit:
Haha. the posting script/language/whatever doesn't let me use the normal "not equal to" Excel, hence the goofy looking post
11/16/09
while (MicrosoftStory() == "bad pr") {
DontFactCheck();
}
A corollary would be:
while (AppleStory()) {
if (random() = 0.5) {
AppleFanboy();
} else {
AppleHater();
}
} #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
It's HTML. To get < >, use " <" and " >" #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
-Make me a sandwich.
no.
-Sudo Make me a sandwich.
ok.
and for Windows it's:
-Can I have a sandwich?
No, go ask your mom if it's ok. #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
-Can I have a sandwich?
No.
-But Mom said it's ok.
ok, fine, have a damn sandwich.
11/16/09
(Windows)
- Make me a sandwich
No, I can't do that for you.
But.... here is a list of people that I can make a sandwich for and if you know their password I will let you impersonate them and then gladly make a sandwich for you.
(Linux)
- Make me a sandwich
No, I can't do that for you.
11/16/09
So it's basically exactly like sudo except with user account switching? And here I was thinking companies like Microsoft should be focused on making stuff you know.. simpler. #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
11/17/09
Exactly like sudo in the way that it makes it possible for a non-root user gain access root-level privileges by means of a simple process. In sudo's case, WITHOUT account switching, hence "[Microsoft patent in discussion is] BASICALLY EXACTLY LIKE SUDO EXCEPT WITH USER ACCOUNT SWITCHING". What was that again? OH. COMPREHENSION FTW. #microsoftsudopatent
11/17/09
patent=auto prompting for escalated perms
sudo≠auto prompting for escalated perms
Saying the patent is the same as sudo is like saying a car is the same as a wheel. No one would say a car is the same as a wheel just because a wheel is used in a car. So a car is "basically exactly like wheel except with a chassis"... see how stupid that sounds? #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
Dammit! It's gotta be like, a Monday or something for this to happen. #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
@Lite: hates Illinois Nazis: #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
Elwood: Illinois Nazis.
Jake: I hate Illinois Nazis. #microsoftsudopatent
11/16/09
11/16/09
"I've always loved you, Sir." #microsoftsudopatent
11/17/09
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.