In message <199502110005.QAA00367@sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu>,
	Daniel Carosone writes:
>I discovered that, while id(1) told me I was in group 0, su(1) told me
>I was not in the correct group to su.
>
>The su(1) program uses the getgrgid() function, which reads the
>/etc/group file for secondary groups. It does not look at the primary
>group. id and su should agree, this is clearly a bug, and a simple one
>to fix.

I'd say this is a bug.  su(1) and id(1) should agree.

>I went to the source of id(1) to see how it extracted the secondary
>group membership from the kernel, so as to use the same mechanism in
>su(1).  I discovered that id also uses a variant of the /etc/group
>database file access routines, and so there is the possibility for
>disagreement between id(1) and the kernel.
>
>I find it very confusing when id tells me I am in the right group to
>su, and I can't, or when it tells me I am in the right group to access
>a file, and I can't.

This is how UN*X has been for a very long time.  Changing it would
certainly `feel' wrong.  A newgrp(1) command might be nice, though.

--
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		 //  Jason Downs  //  downsj@CSOS.ORST.EDU  //
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