Date: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 17:32:02 +0100 From: Arthur Chance <freebsd@qeng-ho.org> To: Bill Tillman <btillman99@yahoo.com> Cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: X client without X server Message-ID: <51D45202.8050902@qeng-ho.org> In-Reply-To: <1372865169.34030.YahooMailNeo@web165004.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> References: <CA%2Bg%2BBvggCPtF-AMSc_PanaPtBAD2K_TRDgQzdtTrbd-M43QLKw@mail.gmail.com> <201307031317.r63DHQqR034336@mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk> <1372865169.34030.YahooMailNeo@web165004.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
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On 07/03/13 16:26, Bill Tillman wrote: [Vast snip.] > Just my 2¢ worth on this. Sure, one always wants to keep overhead > low. But the days of limited RAM, small hard drives, etc...are long > since behind us. I remember in 1994 when and IT consultant came in > and built a Novell server for us with a whopping 1 GB hard drive. > And back then how we thought with a 1 GB hard drive we'd never run > out of space. Well these days one could easily run out of space with > such a small hard drive. But with today's systems having 2 or 3 TB > drives and GB's of RAM, something as trivial as X-Server should not > be a problem. If you don't need it, don't run it. But to worry about > the space it takes up is kind of a moot point these days. And like > some of the other replies mentioned, xterm may not require it, but > one of xterm's dependencies may. I run Asterisk routinely on my > systems and I'm always amazed at how installing one port requires > no less than 38 other ports to be installed as well. There's another reason beside space for not wanting to install a port unless it's definitely needed, especially on any machine that is world facing - security. If a port is installed but unused it might aid an attacker who gets part way into a system to get further privileges. If it's not installed it definitely can't be used for that. I apply the same principle to the base system on world visible servers - if it's not used and there's a src.conf option to remove it, it gets removed. As the old sysadmin joke goes: "Yes, I'm paranoid. But am I paranoid enough?" -- In the dungeons of Mordor, Sauron bred Orcs with LOLcats to create a new race of servants. Called Uruk-Oh-Hai in the Black Speech, they were cruel and delighted in torturing spelling and grammar. _Lord of the Rings 2.0, the Web Edition_
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