Subject: Re: Single user mode files (was: Rototil ...)
To: Jeremy C. Reed <reed@reedmedia.net>
From: William Allen Simpson <wsimpson@greendragon.com>
List: current-users
Date: 06/06/2003 15:26:04
"Jeremy C. Reed" wrote:
>
> passwd(1) is tool that can be used by regular users to change their own
> passwords.
>
> > IMHO, passwd really should be in /sbin. And chmod, more & less, and
> > other really basic file commands, should be in /bin.
>
> /sbin is for administration and system tools. passwd(1) is for non-admins
> too. /usr/bin/passwd is normal for other operating systems too. (Anyways,
> it uses pwd_mkdb(8) which is under /usr/sbin/.)
>
Well, yes, but most everything in /bin and /sbin are for non-admins, too.
I'm just saying this is something useful in single user mode, and a
fairly common root activity.
> chmod(1) is in /bin. But I do agree, it would be useful to have a pager in
> /bin too.
>
(I fixed that, our messages passed in the night, I meant chown.)
Fixing files is one thing I've had to do! (Forgetting to tar -p,
hopefully that will never happen again with the nice new build.sh stuff.)
Thus, I think that all basic file examination and repair programs should
be in /bin.
What I'm trying to emphasize: the need to think about what needs to be
readily available to admins, particularly in single user mode.
> That hit me on a remote box last year too.
>
Fortunately, this time the box was only 20 minutes away, instead of 20
hours away. Sometimes, I think that NetBSD developers have a tendency
to be armchair developers, concerned only with their own workstation,
with easy single user mode access. ;-)
--
William Allen Simpson
Key fingerprint = 17 40 5E 67 15 6F 31 26 DD 0D B9 9B 6A 15 2C 32