>>>>> "Sergei" == Sergei Barbarash <sgt@deltathree.com> writes:

    >> Is xterm supposed to be setuid root? Mine is, and I can't
    >> remember if I set it that way while poking around and forgot to
    >> unset it, or is it supposed to be that way?

    Sergei> It certainly is. It has to append new records to utmp/wtmp
    Sergei> when started.

It certainly is not. xterm does not "have to append new records to
utmp". It works just fine when it doesn't have sufficient privilege to
do so. Nothing breaks if the utmp record isn't written: all that
happens is the xterm session isn't seen in the output from who or w
and the xterm user can't be on the receiving end of the write, wall
and talk commands. This is no Big Deal. These benefits(?) don't
justify making xterm setuid-root IMHO.