The CS Lab supports a locally customized
installation of Linux derived from the Fedora Core base distribution
(as of Auguest 2004). Major updates are performed annually, typically
during summer. Security updates are performed as needed.
Software
We install a limited set of
popular applications in the CS Lab Linux distribution, and a huge
set of applications on the instructional systems.
Since we do not install or support all the software that might be
of interest to people, we provide a mechanism whereby groups of
individuals can share with others the packages they like well enough
to support themselves.
/uns is a collection
of software installed and maintained cooperatively by UW CSE
students. It is available on most GWS UNIX workstations and servers,
as well as instructional UNIX systems, in the partition "/uns". (A
collection of useful software is also available (as archives, not
installed) for Windows users.)
User-Installed Software
On lab-managed Linux macahines, users are not allowed to install
software packages (rpms). This restriction causes a certain amount
of acrimony but there are reasons for it:
As mentioned above, the lab updates software on a fairly regular
basis. We need to know what software is running on a machine
so that no breakage occurs (or is kept to a minimum) when updates
happen. With arbitrary user-installed packages the potential for
"dueling versions" or library incompatibilities is substantial.
We don't want to break your stuff and we don't want you to break ours.
Installing software (almost always) requires root privileges.
It is very difficult to restrict that privilege to "just installing
rpms". For instance some packages require after-installation
configuration of one form or another. And it is difficult to determine
whether the software being installed is "safe" in the sense that
it does not contain privilege-escalation programs -- if you can install
one package, you can install any package including those of your own
devising. This is a concern not so much over fears of malicious intent
but simply an attempt to avoid the tweaking that leads to confusion
mentioned in the previous point.
The vast majority of students did not come here to become
system administrators. The general tendency is to install software
on the spur of the moment and then, over time, forget that it is
there. It takes a certain amount of dedication to track security
fixes, version updates, etc., and most students have better, more
interesting things to do. This can lead to annoying problems with
security and incompatibility with "lab standard" services/software.
Administering Your Own Unix System
Although we won't let you install software on lab-managed Unix
machines we will let you administer your own machine. As noted, most
students don't want to be system administrators but if really need to
do it yourself, be sure to first read
these guidelines,
which will also describe how to proceed. You should be aware,
however, that as far as the UW bureaucracy is concerned, the lab is
still the "responsible party" for your self-administered machine.
Therefore if your machine is implicated in some misadventure, the lab
will come looking for you.
Dual Booting
Thinking about running a dual-boot machine (Windows and Unix)? It
carries all the same issues as administering your own Unix system (see
previous item), but with additional maintenance issues. If you're
interested, first read these
guidelines, which will
also describe how to proceed.
Unix GWS Usage
Need some UNIX cycles on the grad workstations? Read the usage guidelines before
launching your big job on someone else's desktop machine!
Computer Science & Engineering
University of Washington
Box 352350
Seattle, WA 98195-2350
(206) 543-1695 voice, (206) 543-2969 FAX
[comments to sp-staff@cs.washington.edu]
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