Nor is there anything inherently wrong with having sex without the use of a condom.

YES! Safe exec! Use software protection;) (Can you tell that when I read this I was LOL!?)

However, it is very difficult -- VERY DIFFICULT -- to prove to yourself that there is never an instance in which your system() or popen() can be abused.

Well...you can tell by looking, certainly that's not true when you need a condem;)

In any case, I find its often more prudent just to strip all these things out of my code. If you don't use them, you don't have to prove they are done properly. Paranoia is your friend. No one can ever break you for doing something you don't do.

That's true, I have to admit that I usually don't use them either. Once you know how they're coded up, and how little code is actually used, it seems silly anyway to call a popen or system and suffer the overhead of the function calls and the loss of control.

...

The problem arises when you use information given to you from outside as the argument to popen or system without checking it.

Yup, but often, you'd be suprised what turns out to be outside data.

You're singing to the choir. Sigh, Eric Allman's been several times surprised about what turned out to be outside data.

In any case, you obviously also understand why this is bad, but I hope that people out there understan -- always make sure that you are double extra careful about the use of such calls.

Thanks:) Patrick _______________________________________________________________________ / These opinions are mine, and not Verity's (except by coincidence;). \ | (\ | | Patrick J. Horgan Verity Inc. \\ Have | | patrick@verity.com 1550 Plymouth Street \\ _ Sword | | Phone : (415)960-7600 Mountain View \\/ Will | | FAX : (415)960-7750 California 94303 _/\\ Travel | \___________________________________________________________\)__________/