SAFE_FINGER(8)

📦 version 7.6.q, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, epel 10, epel 9, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

👑 NAME 👑

safe_finger — a finger client wrapper that protects against nasty stuff from finger servers 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

safe_finger [finger_options]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Okay so bestie, listen up, because safe_finger is literally the bodyguard your finger client never knew it needed. It protects against nasty stuff from finger servers. That's the whole vibe. 🛡️

Use this program for automatic reverse finger probes from the tcp_wrapper (tcpd) — NOT the raw finger command. Like, do not do that. Use the wrapper. 🙈

Here's what it's giving:

  • It makes sure that the finger client is not run with root privileges. Periodt. No root for finger. 💀
  • It also runs the finger client with a defined PATH environment. Structure? Immaculate. ✨

And that's not even all of it, because safe_finger will also protect you from problems caused by the output of some finger servers. The problem, you ask? Let me spill ☕:

  • Some programs may react to stuff in the first column.
  • Other programs may get upset by thrash anywhere on a line.
  • File systems may fill up as the finger server keeps sending data. 😭
  • Text editors may bomb out on extremely long lines.
  • The finger server may take forever because it is somehow wedged. Like girl, we are WAITING. ⌛

safe_finger takes care of all this badness. All of it. Every last crumb. It's giving main character energy, it's giving protective bestie, it's giving iconic. 🎀

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Wietse Venema, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands. 🫶

Bestie, that's a wrap! 💖 This page came to you from the Linux Programmer's Manual, dated 21th June 1997, section SAFE_FINGER(8). Obsessed with her, honestly. Slay, stay safe out there, and never run finger as root. 😘🦋✨

📦 where this page comes from