Just curious...what do the powers that be want you to use instead?
:Robert
So they think a Unix shell script is more *secure* than a Tcl script?
Yipes!
So, don't install Tcl. Run your Tcl script against a TclKit or, go
all the way and just create a stand-alone StarPack. No Tcl
installation required... Would that be acceptable to "the powers that
be"?
Jeff
Tell your bosses that Expect has long been considered a "unix power
tool": http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/upt3/
See also http://wiki.tcl.tk/expect
A discussion of why you need expect to automate password changes here:
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-sc1/?n-l-4112
If they're worried about open source, they can get a support contract
with ActiveState
--
Glenn Jackman
Ulterior Designer
ActiveTcl <URL: http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActiveTcl/ >
is a proprietary, quality-assured product based on Tcl which,
along with much else, includes all the latest Expect functionality.
If I correctly understand your situation, ActiveTcl is a complete
solution.
They do realize that almost all of the Unix shells are also open source --
don't they?
--
+--------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| Gerald W. Lester |
|"The man who fights for his ideals is the man who is alive." - Cervantes|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>
> debaser wrote:
> > They suggest that these Unix processes, such as automatically changing
> > user passwords on several servers, can be accomplished by unix
> > script.. I have tried this, but have had much difficulty calibrating
> > the 'delay' command to the interactive prompts of 'passwd'.
> >
> > Robert Hicks wrote:
> >> debaser wrote:
> >>> Hi. I want to use tcl's expect tool to automate some interactive unix
> >>> processes on my system. However, the powers that be where I work will
> >>> not allow tcl to be installed because it is open source and there is
> >>> some fear of security and instability with open source products here.
> >>> Can anyone point to any cases or books that I might use to build an
> >>> argument for getting tcl installed here? thanks
> >> Just curious...what do the powers that be want you to use instead?
> >>
> >> :Robert
> >
>
> They do realize that almost all of the Unix shells are also open source --
> don't they?
Pretty much all (major) current releases of 'UNIX' are open source at this
point. (This include Solaris!). The only fully closed source operating
system is MS-Windows, which in fact has the *worst* track record in
terms of 'security and stability' (it is the most INsecure and the most
UNstable).
>
--
Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software -- Linux Installation and Administration
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Web Hosting, with CGI and Database
hel...@deepsoft.com -- Contract Programming: C/C++, Tcl/Tk
Do you use solaris? http://www.opensolaris.org
marc
--
ms4...@sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org
If you're changing passwords via interactive use of 'passwd': on many
systems there are better ways to accomplish this.
Linux has 'usermod -p', other systems will have something similar.
R'