217 lines
5.3 KiB
HTML
217 lines
5.3 KiB
HTML
<HTML
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><HEAD
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><TITLE
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>Document Conventions</TITLE
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><META
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NAME="GENERATOR"
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CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.7"><LINK
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REL="HOME"
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TITLE="Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOWTO"
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HREF="index.html"><LINK
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REL="UP"
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TITLE="Background"
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HREF="background.html"><LINK
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REL="PREVIOUS"
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TITLE="Other Sources of Security Information"
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HREF="other-sources.html"><LINK
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REL="NEXT"
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TITLE="Summary of Linux and Unix Security Features"
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HREF="features.html"></HEAD
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><BODY
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CLASS="SECT1"
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BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
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TEXT="#000000"
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LINK="#0000FF"
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VLINK="#840084"
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ALINK="#0000FF"
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><DIV
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CLASS="NAVHEADER"
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><TABLE
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SUMMARY="Header navigation table"
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WIDTH="100%"
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BORDER="0"
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CELLPADDING="0"
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CELLSPACING="0"
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><TR
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><TH
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COLSPAN="3"
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ALIGN="center"
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>Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOWTO</TH
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></TR
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="10%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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><A
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HREF="other-sources.html"
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ACCESSKEY="P"
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>Prev</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="80%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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>Chapter 2. Background</TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="10%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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><A
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HREF="features.html"
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ACCESSKEY="N"
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>Next</A
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></TD
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></TR
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></TABLE
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><HR
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT1"
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><H1
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CLASS="SECT1"
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><A
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NAME="CONVENTIONS"
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></A
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>2.10. Document Conventions</H1
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><P
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>System manual pages are referenced in the format <EM
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>name(number)</EM
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>,
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where <EM
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>number</EM
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> is the section number of the manual.
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The pointer value that means ``does not point anywhere'' is called NULL;
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C compilers will convert the integer 0 to the value NULL in most circumstances
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where a pointer is needed,
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but note that nothing in the C standard requires that NULL actually
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be implemented by a series of all-zero bits.
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C and C++ treat the character '\0' (ASCII 0) specially, and this value
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is referred to as NIL in this book (this is usually called ``NUL'',
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but ``NUL'' and ``NULL'' sound identical).
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Function and method names always use the correct case, even if that means
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that some sentences must begin with a lower case letter.
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I use the term ``Unix-like'' to mean Unix, Linux, or other systems whose
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underlying models are very similar to Unix;
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I can't say POSIX, because there are systems such as Windows 2000 that
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implement portions of POSIX yet have vastly different security models.</P
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><P
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>An attacker is called an ``attacker'', ``cracker'', or ``adversary'',
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and not a ``hacker''.
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Some journalists mistakenly use the word ``hacker'' instead of ``attacker'';
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this book avoids this misuse, because many
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Linux and Unix developers refer to themselves as ``hackers''
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in the traditional non-evil sense of the term.
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To many Linux and Unix developers, the term ``hacker'' continues
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to mean simply an expert or enthusiast, particularly regarding computers.
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It is true that some hackers commit malicious or intrusive actions,
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but many other hackers do not,
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and it's unfair to claim that all hackers perform malicious activities.
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Many other glossaries and books note that not all hackers are attackers.
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For example,
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the Industry Advisory Council's Information Assurance (IA)
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Special Interest Group (SIG)'s
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<A
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HREF="http://www.iaconline.org/sig_infoassure.html"
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TARGET="_top"
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>Information Assurance Glossary</A
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> defines hacker as
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``A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the
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internal workings of computers and computer networks.
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The term is misused in a negative context where `cracker' should be used.''
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<A
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HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon"
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TARGET="_top"
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>The
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Jargon File</A
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> has a
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<A
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HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/hacker.html"
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TARGET="_top"
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>long and complicate definition for hacker</A
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>, starting with
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``A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems
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and how to stretch their capabilities,
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as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary.'';
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it notes although some people use the term to mean
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``A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive information
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by poking around'', it also states that this definition is deprecated and
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that the correct term for this sense is ``cracker''.</P
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><P
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>This book uses the ``new'' or ``logical'' quoting system, instead
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of the traditional American quoting system: quoted information
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does not include any trailing punctuation if the punctuation
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is not part of the material being quoted.
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While this may cause a minor loss of typographical beauty, the traditional
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American system causes extraneous characters to be placed inside the quotes.
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These extraneous characters have
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no effect on prose but can be disastrous in code or computer commands.
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I use standard American (not British) spelling; I've yet to meet an
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English speaker on any continent who has trouble with this.</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
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><HR
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
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SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
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WIDTH="100%"
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BORDER="0"
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CELLPADDING="0"
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CELLSPACING="0"
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="other-sources.html"
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ACCESSKEY="P"
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>Prev</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="index.html"
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ACCESSKEY="H"
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>Home</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
|
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="features.html"
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ACCESSKEY="N"
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>Next</A
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></TD
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></TR
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
|
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
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>Other Sources of Security Information</TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
|
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
|
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><A
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HREF="background.html"
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ACCESSKEY="U"
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>Up</A
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></TD
|
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
|
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ALIGN="right"
|
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VALIGN="top"
|
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>Summary of Linux and Unix Security Features</TD
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></TR
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></TABLE
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></DIV
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></BODY
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></HTML
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> |