CentOS Security

Over at Planet CentOS there has been a rash of posts about security, here, here and here. Wise words, check them out.

Reading this got me thinking about using the non-standard packages and compiling from source. I think one of the reasons why sys-admins do this is because they are more comfortable with the package they want to use. This may be personal preference, and the preference may be because it is what they know. As a sys-admin, you rarely get to run the software you want. You have to make do with what you have or what others want. The business wnats you to load this software, and thhis software needs this specific app server which is not your favorite, or one you know well.

Like it or not, that is part of the job. On the plus side, learning new softaer gives more knowledge and experience which is only a good thing.