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From: Alec Kloss <alec@d2si.com>
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In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.91.970707130137.11314A@home> from Mail Lists at "Jul 7, 97 01:03:22 pm"
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Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 15:35:07 -0500 (CDT)
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> 
>   Hi....whenever I update the password file my changes don't seem to take 
> effect even after a reboot...I've tried changing shells and comments and 
> they look right in the file, but don't work when logging in or using 
> finger...is there something else I need to do to update the system?  
> thanks...Adam
> 
> 

It sounds like you are using
        vi /etc/passwd
which will not work as FreeBSD uses a shadowed password file.  Use 
vipw instead.  If you don't like the editor you get, set the EDITOR 
environment variable to your favorite.