Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 22:08:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Dima Dorfman <dima@zwb.net> To: djv@bedford.net Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: renaming of usernames and homedirectories Message-ID: <199805140208.WAA23438@nwalme.pair.com> In-Reply-To: <199805140116.VAA08330@castor.loco.net> from CyberPeasant at "May 13, 98 09:16:44 pm"
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> Dima Dorfman wrote > > > > I have never used any of this tool, vipw. I always just edit > > /etc/master.passwd and do a pwd_mkdb. This eams to work just fine. Also, > > the only real reason I might use chfn is if I don't have root access. Is > > there a reason why I shouldn't edit /etc/master.passwd? > > > > A minor one -- locking the files. If you're rooting with vi, and > a user comes along and runs passwd or chfn or whatever, his > change will probably vanish.: > > you --> vi xxxx > user --> chfn > user --> exits > you --> exit > you --> pwd_mkdb > True, but it really depends on how many users are on the system. The systems I help administer have from 100 to 1000 users. Chances are little that this will happen. However, if a system has tens of thousands of users, this could be very annyoing. I don't like using these tools because when I used to use System V, they either didn't exist, or had a much different interface. The master.passwd file format is the same as AT7T UNIX Version 1, so I can login as root to any UNIX system, and be familiar with the file. Using vipw, which I haven't heard of until today, it would probably be alot different from System V, OpenBSD, Solaris, ... > user's changes are lost, I think. > > If you were using vipw, user would have seen: > > [user@lucy user]$ chfn > chfn: the password db file is busy > [user@lucy user]$ > > Dave > -- > --== Things that suck: mowing the lawn ==-- > -- Dima Dorfman (dima@zwb.net) "640k ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981 Micro$oft Sucks! FreeBSD Rules! http://www.freebsd.org/ Finger dima@zwb.net for more information. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199805140208.WAA23438>