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Is multi user nix safe? (mander.xyz)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I'm thinking of setting up multi user nix on a compute cluster. The advantage would be to have a shared storage where common packages are reused, this is a great advantage compared to conda where every environment duplicates storage and inodes.

However, the packages are installed as root. As such I'm a bit wary of whether a user installing something could have the system run malware as root by installing a package.

What are the safeguards in place and how do I know I can trust them?

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[–] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

However, the packages are installed as root. As such I’m a bit wary of whether a user installing something could have the system run malware as root by installing a package.

I'm pretty sure the packages are built as unprivileged users in a sandbox, and you can also restrict what users can use certain Nix features.

The main security flaw with a multi-user Nix system is that everything you build ends up in a world-readable store.

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