Logfinder
EFF released today a new tool for system adminstrators to use: Logfinder.
Many sysadmins may not know what they're logging. All kinds of automatic information gathering goes on, day after day, night after night, that isn't necessary in any operational sense and creates a honey pot for subpoena activity. Why gather information you don't need? Logfinder, conceived by Ben Laurie (once an expert in the Yahoo! case) and written by Seth Schoen, makes it possible to dig around and figure out what it is your system is automatically recording — and consciously decide not to record it.
Just as Edward Tufte urges us to get rid of “chart junk” when showing information, Schoen and EFF are urging sysadmins to get rid of “log junk” when running systems.
Elegant.
Thanks to Shari Motro for reminding me about “chart junk”