[Sderby] Re: root privileges

[James Gibbon]

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 20:34:48 +0100
Paul Grosse <paul-grosse at ntlworld.com> wrote:

> On Monday 25 October 2004 01:59, James Gibbon wrote:
> > > I think that the /etc/passwd file is a copy and editing it is to no avail
> > > as the original is protected by the system.
> >
> > /etc/passwd is the definitive user database.  In fact, editing it used to
> > be the usual way of adding / deleting / modifying users, and should still
> > work.
> >
> > It's protected by virtue of the fact that it's modifiable only by root.
> 
> /etc/passwd does contain the list of users but where the password goes, there 
> is just a star. In /etc/master.passwd, there is the full list. Is it possible 
> to edit both together (ie, using a GUI so that it can be done simultaneously) 
> or would I be saying goodbye to being able to use my system again (I suppose 
> I could set up another account on wheel :-)

Hmm - I thought that was a BSD thing!  Well, I wouldn't try to edit it; I suspect it's
like /etc/shadow on most Linuxes, ie it gets updated when you run passwd.