From: Jeremy Billones <billones@primenet.com> Subject: CFV: comp.os.linux.security Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 22:37:48 GMT FIRST CALL FOR VOTES (of 2) unmoderated group comp.os.linux.security [The earlier version had incorrect voting addresses.] Newsgroups line: comp.os.linux.security Security and the GNU/Linux Operating System. Votes must be received by 23:59:59 UTC, 5 Apr 1999. This vote is being conducted by a neutral third party. Questions about the proposed group should be directed to the proponent. Proponent: Erik de Castro Lopo <erikd@zip.com.au> Votetaker: Jeremy Billones <billones@primenet.com> RATIONALE: comp.os.linux.security The number of users of the Linux Operating System has grown significantly over the last few years. A large number of these new users are connecting their machines to the internet via modems with little or no thought about the security of their machines. In addition, the standard installation procedure of most Linux distributions results in a machine with maximal capabilities but also with a number of possible security holes. A search of a usenet archiving site such as dejanews would quickly find a large number of linux security discussion threads scattered across numerous existing newsgroups. The existing newsgroup comp.security.unix is useful but its discussion content is aimed more at the unix administrator level. Therefore a newsgroup specifically aimed at the home/small business Linux user would complement rather than replace discussion on comp.unix.security. CHARTER: comp.os.linux.security This newsgroup is dedicated to the discussion of issues related to establishing and maintaining the security of machines running the Linux Operating System on all processor architectures. Open discussion of techniques and software for protecting machines against remote attacks (via a network connection) as well as attacks from untrusted local users are welcome. This discussion can include information about which applications are vulnerable, the form of the vulnerability and snippets of source code for demonstrating the vulnerability. The posting of commercial information to this group is permitted only if the information is directly relevant to security and the Linux Operating System. Messages which are cross-posted to or from any advocacy newsgroup are not welcome. As this is a discussion group, the posting binaries is strongly discouraged. Spamming, ECP and EMP of any sort is absolutely not tolerated. END CHARTER. HOW TO VOTE: Follow these instructions *exactly*! Votes are counted by computer. You should send E-MAIL (posts to a newsgroup are invalid) to: billones@erols.com Please do not assume that just replying to this message will work. Check the address before you mail your vote. Your mail message should contain one and only one of the following vote statements: I vote YES on comp.os.linux.security I vote NO on comp.os.linux.security Voter name: If your mail software does not indicate your real name (for example, AOL does not), include _exactly_ the statement above on a _separate_ line and add your name after the colon. Having your name in your signature line is NOT enough! Do NOT join the lines together or remove the words "Voter name"! You may also vote ABSTAIN (which records an empty vote) or CANCEL (which removes any earlier votes). ABSTAIN does not affect the final vote count in any way but is listed, whereas CANCEL is not. If these instructions are unclear, please consult the Introduction to Usenet Voting or the Usenet Voting FAQ at http://www.iki.fi/~jpatokal/uvv/. IMPORTANT VOTING PROCEDURE NOTES: Standard Guidelines for voting apply. One vote per person, one account per voter. Votes must be mailed directly from the voter to the votetaker. Anonymous, forwarded or proxy votes are not valid. Votes mailed by WWW/HTML/CGI forms are considered to be anonymous votes. Vote counting is automated. Failure to follow these directions may mean that your vote does not get counted. If you do not receive an acknowledgment of your vote within three days contact the votetaker about the problem. It's your responsibility to make sure your vote is registered correctly. Duplicate votes are resolved in favor of the most recent valid vote. Addresses and votes of all voters will be published in the final voting results post. The purpose of a Usenet vote is to determine the genuine interest of persons who would read a proposed newsgroup. Soliciting votes from disinterested parties defeats this purpose. ** Please do not redistribute this CFV. ** If you must, direct people to the official CFV as posted to news.announce.newgroups. Distributing pre-marked or otherwise edited copies of this CFV is generally considered to be vote fraud. When in doubt, ask the votetaker. DISTRIBUTION: Pointers directing readers to this CFV will be posted in these groups: comp.os.linux.misc This CFV was created with uvpq 1.0 (Jul 22 1998). PQ datestamp: 980322 -- Voting address : billones@erols.com Voting information: http://www.iki.fi/~jpatokal/uvv/