Installing TeX at a "secure" site?

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Article #2178

#2178

From: Francois-Michel Lang
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 22:10

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I just received a tape of the Unix TeX distribution from the
Northwest Computing Support Center and handed it over to the
sysadmin folks at my site for installation.  Now they tell me
that they will *not* install it because TeX is public domain
software, which is verboten here.  (Why, given this policy,
we can still use GNU Emacs is another matter...)

In an effort to convince the sysadmin folks that installing and
running TeX will not destroy the world as we know it:

(1) I'd very much appreciate hearing from anyone who has TeX running
at a site where security is a real concern (e.g., military, defense,
or government "agencies").  If TeX is safe enough for such sites, it
should be safe enough for us!

(2) Has anything been written/published showing/arguing that TeX is
indeed safe, and will not introduce the latest and most fiendish
viruses into our network?

I don't have to be convinced of the worth of TeX.  I just need some
ammunition to bolster my argument that TeX is safe to install.

Many thanks.
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Francois-Michel Lang          (202) 752-6067   FAX: (202) 752-4463
alufml@fnma.com ............. Fannie Mae; Asset/Liability Strategy
lang@linc.cis.upenn.edu ..... Dept of Comp & Info Science, U of PA

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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!almserv!purple!alufml
From: alufml@purple.fnma.com (Francois-Michel Lang)
Subject: Installing TeX at a "secure" site?
Message-ID: <1992Aug13.221040.2123@almserv.uucp>
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Organization: Fannie Mae, Washington, DC
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 22:10:40 GMT
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