Re: [Fed-Talk] Firefox self-update?
Re: [Fed-Talk] Firefox self-update?
- Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] Firefox self-update?
- From: "Walls, Bryan K. (MSFC-EO50)" <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:26:23 -0500
OS X is moving toward a "sandbox" paradigm. A given program "owns" a certain amount of real estate that you grant it when you do the install. The OS is moving toward requiring that the app have a trusted identity, though you can still work around that.
Part of Firefox's sandbox is a bundle in /Applications named Firefox.app. Firefox and only Firefox can modify that sandbox, and only with code that is signed by Firefox.
I think it's a pretty good system, but obviously it does cede some control to the app developer that could surprise you in an unpleasant way. But you can normally turn off updates in the preferences, trading the risk of getting caught by a vulnerability against the risk of an unexpected change in behavior.
On Aug 29, 2012, at 10:52 AM, David Emery wrote:
> So how does Firefox (and other applications) manage to update stuff in /Applications withOUT an Admin password? I know that's restating my original question, but it sure seems to me that based on core Unix, /Applications should not be writable by the current user, and that's why you get prompted for an Admin password to install software.
>
> So it's really a 2 part question: 1. What's the mechanism? 2. Is this A Good Idea? We've discussed the latter (and I suspect may well "agree to disagree" on whether it's a good idea.)
>
> dave
>
> On Aug 29, 2012, at 11:44 , Jonathan E. Hardis <email@hidden> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Aug 29, 2012, at 11:01 AM, David Emery wrote:
>>
>>> So where does Firefox store its code? ~/Library/Application Support ?
>>
>> /Applications/Firefox.app
>>
>> This is a directory, a "bundle" in Mac OS X.
>>
>> And yes, your message at the top of this thread raised an interesting question.
>>
>> - Jonathan
>>
>
>
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