Re: LYNX-DEV USE_EXTERNALS

[Nelson Henry Eric]

> I don't even know what this thing is,
> USE_EXTERNALS, but if there is no DISADVANTAGE
> to having it, then please just stick it in > for EVERYONE.

Read what lynx.cfg says about it.  It might make sense to make it
the default for lynx386, but it is way too dangerous security wise
on multiuser systems (WinNT included) to have it other than a compile
option.  If it is put in userdefs.h, and I wouldn't particularly
advise that, it for sure should be set FALSE as the default.

> > I second this.  I learned about existence of externals only when editing
> > lynx.cfg,  and even there there is no mention of the fact that it works only
> > when lynx is compiled with -DUSE_EXTERNALS.  I had to search changes file to
> > find out.  I don't know how many sysadmins are going to do that when
> > installing lynx on their systems.

Until this part of the code is exercised more generally, I question the
wisdom of having sysadmins (of the type "how many sysadmins are going to
do that when") half-unwittingly installing a Lynx that could execute
externals that way.  There probably has been enough turnover of the lynx-dev
community that people need to be reminded that Lynx is rather popular as a
quasi-shell/menu system in budget-constrained libraries and other
institutions.  Quite often the person who installed Lynx moves on and
someone else less knowledgeable inherits a system they don't really
understand but are obliged to keep running.

__Henry