Credentials under which Apache serves requests

[Joshua Slive <jo...@slive.ca>]

Check out the subject line: it's both grammatically twisted and
just plain unintelligible.

Here is the problem: in my work on mod_dav docs, I need to express the
concept of things that Apache controls using the User and Group specified
in httpd.conf (like the dav lock database and the dav repository).  I
decided to be very explicit and refer to User and Group so that users
would know exactly where to look to find the correct permissions.  But
User and Group are actually mpm dependent.  All unix mpms currently use
them, but they may not in the future.  Windows and netware mpms do not use
them.  On windows we have "the user designated to run the apache service"
or some such thing.

So the question is, how do we refer to such things in a way that is
specific and direct, but general enough to cover all apache users.

One possibility is to develop some specific terminology to cover this
user, define it, and use it consistently.  The disadvantage to this
approach is that it adds an extra level of abstraction that must be
navigated by users.  The subject line is one example, but I hate it.  Any
other ideas?

Joshua.

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Re: Credentials under which Apache serves requests

[André Malo <nd...@perlig.de>]

* Joshua Slive wrote:

> Check out the subject line: it's both grammatically twisted and
> just plain unintelligible.
> 
> Here is the problem: in my work on mod_dav docs, I need to express the
> concept of things that Apache controls using the User and Group specified
> in httpd.conf (like the dav lock database and the dav repository).  I
> decided to be very explicit and refer to User and Group so that users
> would know exactly where to look to find the correct permissions.  But
> User and Group are actually mpm dependent.  All unix mpms currently use
> them, but they may not in the future.  Windows and netware mpms do not use
> them.  On windows we have "the user designated to run the apache service"
> or some such thing.
> 
> So the question is, how do we refer to such things in a way that is
> specific and direct, but general enough to cover all apache users.
> 
> One possibility is to develop some specific terminology to cover this
> user, define it, and use it consistently.  The disadvantage to this
> approach is that it adds an extra level of abstraction that must be
> navigated by users.  The subject line is one example, but I hate it.  Any
> other ideas?

Hmm. What about such terms (chosen by context) like "httpd system user",
"httpd system permissions"? I'm also not sure about these, but I agree, that
the "Credentials" thing is not the best solution (and furthermore hard to
translate, at least to German ;-)

nd
-- 
s;.*;aaaaaoaaaoaaaaooooaaoaaaomaaaa:a:alataa:aaoat:a:a:a
maoaa:a:laoata:a:oia:a:o:a:m:a:o:alaoooat:aaool:aaoaa
matooololaaatoto:aaa:o:a:o:m;;s:\s:\::g;y;mailto:;
\40\51/\134\137|ndparker <nd...@perlig.de>;;print;

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Re: Credentials under which Apache serves requests

[Joshua Slive <jo...@slive.ca>]

[Wrapping up old issues...]

On Fri, 25 Apr 2003, Astrid Keßler wrote:

> > Check out the subject line: it's both grammatically twisted and
> > just plain unintelligible.

> > So the question is, how do we refer to such things in a way that is
> > specific and direct, but general enough to cover all apache users.

> I prefer terms like 'http system user', 'system permissions' as
> suggested by nd. A terminoloy schould be easy to understand -
> Credentials imho isn't and I have no better one. Excatness as Michael
> wants can be reached by further description of the term.

I don't think those cut it, because they don't express the distinction
between the user that starts apache and the user under which apache
serves requests.

Unless someone comes up with a better idea, I think perhaps we should
continue to refer specifically to the User and Group directives, and
perhaps include some comments in those directives about what to do on
platforms where they have no effect.

Joshua.

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Re: Credentials under which Apache serves requests

[Astrid Keßler <ke...@kess-net.de>]

> Check out the subject line: it's both grammatically twisted and
> just plain unintelligible.

...

> So the question is, how do we refer to such things in a way that is
> specific and direct, but general enough to cover all apache users.

> One possibility is to develop some specific terminology to cover this
> user, define it, and use it consistently.  The disadvantage to this
> approach is that it adds an extra level of abstraction that must be
> navigated by users.  The subject line is one example, but I hate it.  Any
> other ideas?

I prefer terms like 'http system user', 'system permissions' as
suggested by nd. A terminoloy schould be easy to understand -
Credentials imho isn't and I have no better one. Excatness as Michael
wants can be reached by further description of the term.

Kess

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