Subject: Re: Who is "toor"?
To: None <netbsd-users@netbsd.org>
From: Lasse =?iso-8859-1?Q?Hiller=F8e?= Petersen <lhp@toft-hp.dk>
List: netbsd-users
Date: 02/03/2001 21:54:05
>Hello NetBSD-world!
>
>I'm wondering about the following message, root receives within the output
>of /etc/daily:
>
>  Checking the /etc/master.passwd file:
>  Login toor is off but still has a valid shell (/bin/sh)
>
>I looked into /etc/passwd
>  toor:*:0:0:Bourne-again Superuser:/root:/bin/sh
>and /etc/master.passwd:
>  toor:*:0:0::0:0:Bourne-again Superuser:/root:/bin/sh
>
>Now my question: Who is "He"? And what do we need him for? I'd just like
>to understand how my OS works...

A search on google for "toor and root shell" gave an old (1999) thread from
tech-userlevel.

From reading that thread, I believe it is fair to conclude that this is a
slightly sensitive issue; however I also got the impression that there are
no *technical* obstacles that should prevent anyone who desires to:
a) Remove the toor account
and/or
b) Change the root login-shell to /bin/sh or /bin/ksh

As I work with AIX in my day job, I think I would like do both a and b
(with ksh), unless someone more knowledgeable says "no, no! Doing that will
break X!"

Well, either that, or I'll install tcsh at work. (But having read Tom
Christiansen's piece on csh, I believe it might be wise to avoid it,
despite csh being tied to *BSD historically. I will console myself with the
thought that Korn shell was perhaps inspired by csh to some degree.)

-Lasse