[wplug] suggestions on Unix/Linux machines at Pitt labs?

[Beth Lynn]

Hello,

Back in my day as a Pitt kiddie (1/1999-12/2000), Pitt distributed 
documentation which explained how to use Unix and AFS. Anyone who 
had taken the time to RTFM knew the very basics of AFS. When used 
intelligently, AFS with the help of Kerberos is a very secure way of file 
sharing. You can make things world readable, realm readable, or readable 
by a small group of individuals.

Thanks to the wayback engine, you can read the same docs too.
http://web.archive.org/web/20030608131818/http://www.pitt.edu/~document/html.html#UNIX

Read further for a history lesson and a tragic tale...

Before Pitt migrated to imap (circa 2000), students were told to use 
*telnet* to login to unixs.cis.pitt.edu and use pine to read email.
If you were sitting behind a Windows box you were encouraged to use "LAN 
WorkPlace Pro" to telnet. When using the macs, they had "Nifty Telnet" 
When sitting behind a Solaris box, you could just type "telnet" at the 
prompt (nope, ssh was not installed back then). If you wanted to 
use ssh you had to first telnet into unixs and use the ssh client off the 
server. Few lab techs, let alone students, knew any better. It was fun 
time.

No thanks to Pitt, I learned about ssh and the importance of keeping your 
passwords secure. Unfortunately the only ssh client for Windows that I 
knew of at the time was SecureCRT. As a college student, I could not afford
the license which was a couple hundred dollars at the time. It was 
actually cheaper for me to buy a Linux box and use openssh than buy 
SecureCRT. Please keep in mind, this was 1999.

When Pitt pushed out imap, they stopped encouraging Unix and telnet usage. 
At the same Solaris lab machines were drastically decreasing in numbers. 
They also web portal that seldom worked was supposed to replace the 
student's need to use ftp and telnet to login to unixs anymore. Before 
we knew it, CIS/CSSD Unix documentation became obscure. It seemed like 
they were trying to mitigate their way around the telnet problem by 
discouraging Unix usage.

In typical CIS/CSSD fashion, they completely forgot about the needs of the 
CS and IS students. Many Pascal, C, and C++ based classes still required 
you to login to unixs to get the source from AFS and then compile it on 
the server. Unix usage on campus was diminished but it still was not going 
away. They had less unix users, yet the unix users that they had were less 
informed about the Unix and AFS environment.

And now for the tragic tale...
A Pitt 2001 homecoming queen candidate had made national news when a 
her private photo was distributed on the Internet. Unknowingly, she stored 
the picture in her public AFS directory after using a scanner in a Pitt 
lab. In fairness, the CIS/CSSD documentation was so obscure that she would 
know that she was using AFS, let alone how to use it properly.

Four years later, CIS/CSSD still fail to provide any information to their 
users about safe Unix and AFS use. I see questions posted to this list and 
livejournal from frustrated Pitt students who are not able to get 
useful help from CIS/CSSD.
http://www.livejournal.com/community/pittkiddies/

The full story can be read on Pitt News. I'd give the link itself a PG-13 
but I can not be responsible for content that was linked off of that.
http://www.pittnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2001/10/29/3bdcdab5bb8e0?in_archive=1

Thanks,
Beth Lynn