What to do when a command isn't found?

[Al Sparks]

--- "Mikkel L. Ellertson" <mikkel at infinity-ltd.com> wrote:

> What happens if you run "/sbin/ifconfig eth0" instead of
> "/sbin/ifconfig eth0 down"? Is the permission denied message about
> running ifconfig or about trying to bring down eth0? There are times
> when the information presented by ifconfig is useful to a normal
> user, even though you can not change the settings.
> 

As non-root, you're allowed to view the information, but not change
the status of the network interface.  So the command
   /sbin/ifconfig eth0
works as non-root.



> One thing I think you are missing is that keeping these commands off
> a normal user's path is not really a security measure. It is more a
> matter of keeping them out of the way of people that would not
> normally need access to them. Chances are, they are not going to
> stumble across them by accident, but they are there if you do need
> to use them. The security is that most actions by the commands
> require root permissions. The information function of the commands
> still works for normal users.

I don't think I'm missing anything.  Actually we mostly agree.
However, I do most of my system work from a normal user account, using
"sudo" when I need to run something as root.

It's easily fixed, but an annoyance, when I set up a new system, and
ifconfig and other /sbin and /usr/sbin commands don't work initially.

> 
> Mikkel

   === Al