a humble request

[James Wilkinson]

Tim wrote:
> Linux's bloody awful management of
> removable media also annoys me, it's only recently got more sane.

Mike McCarty wrote:
> Well, all *NIX style OS are "bloody awful", I agree. I don't agree
> that it is getting better. But having things "automatically mount
> and do something for you" strikes me as more the Windows way of
> doing things than anything else,

And not something that was suggested.

Having a device automatically mount should be safe, since it's running
trusted code on possibly untrusted data.

Having an audio CD automatically play should be safe, since it's running
trusted code on possibly untrusted data.

Having a data CD automatically run code from the CD without further user
interaction is generally agreed to be a terrible idea, especially since
the Sony rootkit fiasco, which really should have universally and
permanently discredited the idea.

> I don't like anything to remove control
> of my machine from my hands, especially software which may inadvertently
> or intentionally do damage to my setup.

OK -- but sometimes it's useful to allow your computer to do things
automatically, as long as you can change that behaviour when needed.

> Using volume names means ensuring that they never collide, and
> creates an entire name management problem.

Actually, it just means ensuring that they are never mounted at once,
which is a much smaller problem.

James (who shared an Amiga, and agrees that the OS could show all
current OSes a worthwhile trick or two -- for example, datatypes).

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