Gentoo

Derek Neighbors wrote:
> Well you could choose flags that cause issues. For example on the Alpha
> Processor line it is common to issue a flag that changes the way floating
> points work. This is often done because if you don't the application
> won't compile. So you are forced to either fix the application's source
> code so it will compile or to throw this flag so you can get a binary.
> However, in doing so you have made the application more suspectible to
> buffer overflows, etc.
>
> Another example would be that enabling feature X at compile time in a
> program might be "handy" but extremely insecure. The package maintainers
> know this so don't compile with that option, but you as an individual may
> not know that so you compile with that option for convience, never knowing
> that you are opening a large security in the process.
>
> Note compiling your own stuff doesn't mean you are insecure or asking for
> disaster. You could argue the other side of the coin and say the danger
> in dealing with binaries is you can never trust what the packager really
> put in that binary. (and you would be correct) I still think that
> compiling a production system seems errant from a risk analysis
> perspective. Maybe, I'm getting too conservative in my old age. ;)

All of this is very true, it didn't occur to me however since my motivation was
to be _more_ restrictive when I recompile. Since security was my goal, I hadn't
considered compiling in _less_ secure options ... but this is of course a risk.
But also assumes that the package maintainer for the binary package has taken
these things into account.

Compiling from source seems to give some people a warm fuzzy. But I am just
happy enough to know that the sources are available for the binary package I
install ... since I have neither the time nore the expertise to do a code audit
anyway.

Austin