> What is /etc/shells good for?  Anything?  Or is it just following a
> tradition started by someone looking for a quick fix?  Even if it still
> has some use, I'd really like to see a way that I, as a sysadmin, can
> configure it such that _any_ program is considered a "standard shell".
> With /etc/shells as it stands, the only way to do that is something
> like "find / -type f -print > /etc/shells", and that (a) will make
> getusershell() take _forever_ and (b) needs to be rerun every time
> someone compiles a new program.

I can think of at least one problem that would arise if
/etc/shells wasnt used to restrict chsh's:

  - yppasswdd could be used to change your shell from
    a special restricted shell to a full access shell.

yppasswd needs only the account name, the new shell and
the account pasword.  Currently it makes sure that both
the old shell and the new shell are in /etc/shells before
doing anything.

There may be other cases like this lurking around.

> 			       mouse@rodents.montreal.qc.ca