				 About MNTDISK

MNTDISK is a package to allow users to perform basic operations on some type of
removable disk media in a reasonably secure manner.  Currently, Sun CD-ROM's
(both HSFS and UFS) and Sun floppy disks (both PCFS and UFS) are supported.
MNTDISK addresses various security issues such as:

device special files - MNTDISK checks for device special files on UFS floppy
	disks for users not in group wheel.

logging of user actions - MNTDISK uses syslogd(8) to log all actions such as
	mounting, unmounting, formatting, etc.

locking of disks - MNTDISK allows users to lock their disk so other users can't
	unmount it.

protection of disks - MNTDISK won't allow a user to format another user's disk
	unless he could anyway (ie., the device is world-writable, as is
	usually the case for floppies).

MNTDISK also performs various housekeeping tasks such as:

permissions on disks - MNTDISK fixes the ownership and permissions of UFS disks
	after newfs(8) is run.

exporting - MNTDISK runs exportfs automatically when a disk is mounted if NFS
	access is supported.


		     Note on EOD (erasable optical disks)

Artecon EOD's (erasable optical disks) are "sort of" supported.  "Sort of"
means that it invokes Artecon's eodutil(1) to do some things.  Unfortunately,
Artecon is in the habit of adding, removing, and changing the functionality of
useful options to eodutil(1) from release to release, requiring that you keep
copies of different versions and edit the binaries to get rid of "Are you
sure?"  prompting, which MNTDISK already does.  If you want to use MNTDISK with
EOD's, it will require some hacking.


				 Note on PCFS

PCFS first appeared in SunOS 4.1.1.  So, if you are running 4.1 or earlier,
forget about it.  Also, NFS access is not supported for PCFS disks, so PCFS 
disks can't be exported.


				 Legal Issues

Since this software was developed by me for NASA Lewis Research Center, it
cannot be copyrighted.  Hence, it is in the public domain.  Therefore, I can
make no demands about its use, although I would appreciate it if my name stays
attached to it.

Also, although I shouldn't have to say this, anything free comes with no
guarantee.  Thus, I take no responsibility for any damages that occur from the
use of this software or make any claims about its suitability for any purpose
whatsoever.


				Security Issues

Now, before you install this, say to yourself "Self -- do I really want to put
this software on my system?  Do I realize all the security issues involved?  Do
I care?"  If you are desperate enough to install set-uid root scripts on your
system to allow users to mount disks, the the answer is "I don't care".
Otherwise, you may want think about it.  Remember, any set-uid root software is
a potential security hole.  Also, until Sun fixes certain bugs in their OS, no
disk mounting software is going to be perfectly secure, anyway.


				 Bugs/Problems

I really hate to release software and then not support it, but to say that I am
busy is a gross understatement.  I wrote this package during December of 1990
and have held off releasing it until I have had time to document the code and
better support it.  However, I have seen a number of people asking about
software to allow users to mount disks in comp.sys.sun and the sun-managers
mailing list, all with little results.  Therefore, since nothing better has
come along, I figured that my software, poorly supported, is better than no
software at all.  So, I decided to spend one afternoon writing the README file
and then release the software.

Please, before you send me any bug reports, please keep a few things in mind:

1.  When I said I was busy, I meant it.  Thus, don't expect great response
time for any mail you send me.  Likewise, I don't promise any future releases,
although I would like to at least make major bug fixes available.

2.  All the machines I have run this on are Sun4's running SunOS 4.1.1.  Don't
send me mail saying that it doesn't work under SunOS 4.0.3, or on 3/80's, or on
Solbournes.  If I had access to any of those machines, it would already work on
them.  If you come up with "portable" fixes (ie., fixes that don't break it for
Sun4's running SunOS 4.1.1), then I may incorporate them in a future release.

3.  This package already has all the security, functionality, documentation,
etc., that I need for my systems.  It has been running here for 5 months with
almost no modifications and few problems.  If you mail me suggestions for
improvements in functionality without code or bug reports with no fixes, I will
be in no great hurry to do anything about it.

4.  Send bug fixes/enhancements in the form of a "diff -c" against the original
source, along with an explanation of what you did and why.

5.  Don't send me mail asking me to help you install this software on your
system -- as free software goes, this package is fairly easy to install.  I
don't have time to do free consulting for the entire Internet.


			      Reaching the Author

If you need to get ahold of me, I can be reached at the following e-mail
addresses (in order of preference):

	      mikef@sarah.lerc.nasa.gov		(Internet)
	      mikef@zippysun.math.uakron.edu	(Internet)
	      r3mjf1@akronvm 			(BITNET)

Also, my snail-mail address is:
		      Mike J. Fuller
		      M/S 105-1
		      NASA Lewis Research Center
		      21000 Brookpark Road
		      Cleveland, OH 44135-3191

And my phone number is:
	        (216) 433-8449
		(FTS) 297-8449	(For government folks)


				    Flames

Don't bother flaming me for my attitude.  Otherwise, you will make me sorry
that I posted this software and I won't post any more.  And believe me, I have
lots of other useful stuff sitting around waiting to be posted.

Don't bother flaming me for not documenting my code.  Normally, I would
document every function before posting it, but I haven't had time.  Remember,
if it was hard to write, then it should be hard to understand and even harder
to modify :-)

Don't bother flaming me for poor programming.  The program was meant to be a 1
day project of no more than 200 lines and it was supposed to handle only
erasable optical disks.  Needless to say, it got out of hand.  But remember, I
wrote this from scratch in less than a week, and it is always easier to improve
on someone else's code than it is to write it in the first place.


			       About the Author

As of June, 1991, I have been employed as a systems analyst for the
Computational Materials Laboratory for 2.5 years.  Before that, I worked for
1.5 years as an assistant to the manager of the computer department of a
medium-sized cartography company.  I hope to graduate from the University of
Akron with a B.S. in applied mathematics, area of specialization in physics,
and a minor in computer science in May of '92, after which I am open to
suggestions as to what to do (hint: job offer).
