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Why do people keep doing this?

So, some time ago, I called out Flip4Mac because their installer did a dumb thing.

it was a situation that Mac OS X 10.5 fixes, but still exists in 10.4. Lots of people know about it. So you think, ahh, with Office 2008 FINALLy being a package installer instead of that VISE shite, and the Office 2008 Resource Kit specifically talking about deploying via Apple Remote Desktop, it didn't even occur to me that this would happen again. Because I know the Mac BU tests on Mac OS X 10.4. I know they use Apple Remote Desktop. There have been many articles showing the "Wall Of Minis" in their test lab where they specifically talk about using Apple Remote Desktop. So obviously, the Flip4Mac thing won't happen.

I was so wrong

What you should never see

What's the culprit? Well deep in the Office 2008 mpkg, is a sub-package called Office2008_en_dock.pkg. Inside that, in Contents/Resources/ is a postflight script, and this is where all the magical Dock modifications happen. The installer quits the dock, mods it, and restarts it. In Mac OS X 10.5, if you're not logged in, nothing happens. In Mac OS X 10.4? Look at the picture. Initially, all that was there was the Dock. Click on the Finder icon, voila...full root access sans any login.

How to stop? Easy. Comment out line 43, osascript -e 'delay 0.25' -e 'tell application "Dock" to activate', and the Dock won't start. I'd comment out line 16, osascript -e 'tell application "Dock" to quit' -e 'delay 0.25' too, as it's useless, at least to me.

This is truly a Mencia bug.

Technorati Tags:
Beat the Dumb, Dumb is faster than light, Microsoft, Microsoft Office 2008, TEH STOOPUD, Bad Installers

Categories: Mac Matters

Posted by John C. Welch at 12:09 | Permalink

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So, some time ago, I called out Flip4Mac because their installer did a dumb thing.\n\nit was a situation that Mac OS X 10.5 fixes, but still exists in 10.4. Lots of people know about it. So you think, ahh, with Office 2008 FINALLy being a package installer instead of that VISE shite, and the Office 2008 Resource Kit specifically talking about deploying via Apple Remote Desktop, it didn't even occur to me that this would happen again. Because I know the Mac BU tests on Mac OS X 10.4. I know they use Apple Remote Desktop. There have been many articles showing the \"Wall Of Minis\" in their test lab where they specifically talk about using Apple Remote Desktop. So obviously, the Flip4Mac thing won't happen.\n\nI was so wrong\n\n $\"What$ \n\nWhat's the culprit? Well deep in the Office 2008 mpkg, is a sub-package called Office2008_en_dock.pkg. Inside that, in Contents/Resources/ is a postflight script, and this is where all the magical Dock modifications happen. The installer quits the dock, mods it, and restarts it. In Mac OS X 10.5, if you're not logged in, nothing happens. In Mac OS X 10.4? Look at the picture. Initially, all that was there was the Dock. Click on the Finder icon, voila...full root access sans any login. \n\nHow to stop? Easy. Comment out line 43, osascript -e 'delay 0.25' -e 'tell application \"Dock\" to activate', and the Dock won't start. I'd comment out line 16, osascript -e 'tell application \"Dock\" to quit' -e 'delay 0.25' too, as it's useless, at least to me. \n\nThis is truly a Mencia bug.\n\n\n

Technorati Tags:\nBeat the Dumb, Dumb is faster than light, Microsoft, Microsoft Office 2008, TEH STOOPUD, Bad Installers\n