lpr: Unable to open temporary file

[Fairlight]

>From inside the gravity well of a singularity, John Esak shouted:
> Mark's reply which mentioned it in the next message.  However, like him, I
> would have just commented that you need it and never would have thought that
> could be "the" problem.

I can't figure it out either.  The only thing I can possibly conceive of
at the moment is that whatever print spooler is coded to require a secure
directory path, similar to how later sendmail installations have complained
about insecure directories and refused to use config files under them.
Maybe it just flat-out refused to use it if it saw it was 0777?  Seems like
it would have a more relevant error message then, however.  I can't think
of any other way that -less- stringent modes would actually be a problem
though, in general.  The odds on it being what I outlined above, with only
that error message, are probably 0.1% for, at best.

We're assuming this is the problem, though--based on his report.  I
don't trust that report, personally.  We're talking about someone who
self-admittedly didn't install the system, says he just uses it, and who
may have tossed 20 potential fixes at it at once in desperation.  He didn't
detail what he all tried, in what sequence, and if there was testing
between.  It could have been anything, depending on whether it was tried
between steps, or if it was wholesale mass-"fixing" all at once and seeing
the final result and then saying, "Ah, that must have been it!"  Hell, it
could be a combination fix, and not just one thing.

His solution report may have been as complete as his bug report--which
wasn't.  I wouldn't put any stock in the claim, honestly.  It makes
little to no logical sense.  So anyone else with similar problems should
-not- immediately jump to the conclusion that this is "the fix".  I
surely am not buying it, sight unseen.  I'd at least want a reverse test
confirmation--does removing the sticky bit immediately break it again?  We
don't have that either.

We also don't know how or why /tmp was changed to a loose mode to begin
with.  Modes don't just suddenly change themselves unless you're suffering
some serious systemic issues.

Whatever.  It's fixed (however it got that way), he's happy, and we don't
have to think about it anymore.  Good enough for me.  I just wouldn't
want anyone reading archives one day to see it and go, "Hey, that must be
it!"  I don't think it actually was--not without some corroboration and
re-testing of the suspect change.

Random fixes are potentially dangerous.  Propogation of such things is
how we end up with people thinking `chmod 666 *` is a good idea.  "But it
made it work!"  Yes?  Why?  "It just did, I don't know."  Precisely--you
don't know, which means you also don't know enough to know what you're
potentially breaking.  If I had a dime for every time I've heard the
(false) claim that filePro can't read or import from a file that's 0644 as
the justification for using 0777, I could probably take a month's vacation.

mark->
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