Yeah that's a half-assed apology. Yesterday's post might have unintentionally sent a lot of heads spinning, "this is not the way to do this" is not an apology, it's a double-down.
I understand there is a potential heap overflow with atop, thanks for letting everyone know; but you're also letting the people capable of taking advantage of it aware that there is possibility to do this in the wild. Due process is let the developers fix it and then tell everyone to upgrade.
Anyway a C process that runs as root for lifestyle purposes (e.g. not a critical service) is a big no-no. And I say this as I like to write C, I love C. But I wouldn't push my C code on anyone else's computer, especially requesting root access. I'm not that good.
(You are writing here under the name "Niten" which I am going to guess is not your full name. I am writing under the name "gjm11" which is also not my full name, though as it happens my full name is readily discoverable via my HN profile while yours is not. Obviously neither of us actually believes that there is something wrong with not stating your full name explicitly every time you write something.)
> Obviously neither of us actually believes that there is something wrong with not stating your full name explicitly every time you write something.
Who knows? Maybe "Niten" does believe that and has a massive shame and public-embarrassment kink. There's nothing wrong with that; that sort of thing is totally harmless.
I'd argue that it'd be a beneficial life lesson for the people who are freaking out over a "Hey, maybe stop using 'atop'." comment to learn how to enhance their calm.
Blowing one's stack over every little thing shortens your lifespan! It's best to learn how to take friendly warnings about bad things in stride.
Why are you doing it this way then?