i just checked the 1.4.2 source and you are right. utmp.h
#define UT_NAMESIZE     8
#define UT_LINESIZE     8
#define UT_HOSTSIZE     16

as Ron Roskens stated earlier, MAXLOGNAME is defined as 16 in 
/usr/include/sys/param.h

#define MAXCOMLEN       16              /* max command name remembered */


since we are going to have to go through many files to make them call 
compliant, could we just change it to 32 chars? (please?)
most users are used to being able to register with up to 32 characters and 
having the passwd up to that size too.


At 10:00 AM 3/9/00 -0500, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
>/usr/include/utmp.h implies that (part of) the limit is still 8.
>
>I don't have full netbsd sources online at the moment, but from a long-ago
>grep through a source tree (for what somewhat later became System V 
>Release 4)
>I found a fair number of programs that knew about utmp.  Changing, in other
>words, meant breaking a lot of binaries.
>
>                 --Steve Bellovin