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Delete Log and Other Unnecessary Files...
- Thread starter JoelBC
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I'm not claiming anything... I'm merely applying the same logic to the providers of the 3rd party apps that you want to use that you are using on the log entries.
There is no evidence that logs files contain sensitive information, and by the same token there is no evidence (that I care to provide) that the log files don't contain sensitive information.
There is no evidence that the 3rd party apps steal sensitive information, and by the same token there is no evidence (that I care to provide) thatthe 3rd party apps don't steal sensitive information.
Log files are open to anybody to inspect, and 3rd party apps are not.
If I was worried....and I'm not... my betting money would be on the easily audited log files being the safer bet.
But... I'm not the one worried.... if you feel safer letting 3rd party developers (that could theoretically have a motive for selling sensitive info) and that are not publicly audited for safety have complete access to your system in order to delete log files that have never been shown to contain sensitive info.... Let's just say we have a difference of opinion about where the risk lies.
And because there is no evidence they don't, I will continue to run Apps that clear them out regularly, because you cannot prove or be 100% certain that they don't, so the reasonable approach in that situation is....when in doubt, clear them!
If nobody can prove or show me solid evidence that no logs contain sensitive or private information, I will continue to use cleaning Apps to be sure.
Then you have no idea about the contents of this topic nor to what you are replying. I brought it up so yes we are discussing changing logging settings. Before that it was indeed about merely deleting the logs. The reason why I brought this up is quite simple: not everything that is logged will be dealt with by the maintenance scripts (as somebody else also points out). Sometimes these settings are also not beneficial to somebody. Another reason why I brought it up is more simple: it is a very good compromise between keeping the logs and deleting them. You control how the clean up works so you can tell it to keep some logging in order to troubleshoot, audit, etc. Everything else you can delete. If you read this topic you could have seen the real problem: the OP simply wants to have some control over the logging and that's what you can get if you dive into the logging system. Deleting and not deleting stuff is too easy.
It remains to be seen if that is really a disadvantage. Windows has crappy logging since day 1 and it never has been a major problem. It can be a tad annoying but it can be overcome. However, I do agree that one should realise this and ask himself if it is wise to do so. Logs shouldn't grow that much and the maintenance scripts should clean it up. If logs do grow a lot then something is seriously wrong. It is additional work for yourself with little benefit so I'd leave it as it is.
No it is not more likely it is as less likely as they will for the other things. The average user does not know there is logging and certainly does not know what those logs are and how to read them. The average user has a problem and calls for help. It is the computerguy who will require logs for fixing the problem.
Then by all means show it in the information you are giving here so others don't have to correct you in order to make sure people are not sidetracked by the information.
Use things like tcpdump and wireshark. If you want additional security then firewall apps (you have ipfw and pf besides the firewall in the system preferences; these are good open source firewall software used around the world in various OSs and products).
Either you have not seen any log on OS X or you have a very weird description of "sensitive information" but I think you have both. Simply open "Console" and read through the various logs. There is a lot of sensitive information there. That's what we need in order to do audits, troubleshooting, etc.
If they are closed source they are not but this isn't true at all for open source software. The entire idea behind software being open source is being able to help out and being able to inspect.
Besides all this: there is little need for 3rd party apps since all the tools that you need are in OS X already.