Re: Default number of overwrites in shred

[Peter Eckersley]

On Fri, 2007-05-04 at 10:28 -0400, John Cowan wrote:
> Jim Meyering scripsit:
> 
> > My reflex was to object.  Reducing the default number of passes from
> > 25 to 1 seemed extreme.  But after skimming through the link below,
> > it's hard to argue :-)
> 
> Still, there may be older disks hanging about.  How about making the
> number of passes inversely proportional to the log of the size of
> the disk?  That will smoothly accommodate older disks with wide
> recording tracks as well as newer ones with narrow tracks.
> 

If there are portable ways of doing this sort of thing, sure.

Also, it would be a good idea to check whether the underlying device is
a disk at all.  Different overwrite protocols might be required for
flash and other media...

-- 
Peter Eckersley                            address@hidden
Staff Technologist                Tel  +1 415 436 9333 x131
Electronic Frontier Foundation    Fax  +1 415 436 9993