Subject: Re: Text form of wtmp
To: Greywolf <greywolf@starwolf.com>
From: Matthias Buelow <mkb@incubus.de>
List: tech-userlevel
Date: 02/18/2005 00:28:41
Greywolf wrote:

> And finally, to address perhaps the most simple characteristic regarding
> wtmp, wtmpx, acct, lastlog and lastlogx:  It isn't broken by any stretch
> of the imagination (save that wtmp records became too small with the
> advent of the commercial internet!).  It doesn't need to be fixed.

It is of course true that the status quo hardly warrants a rewrite of 
the wtmp(x) mechanism and that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies 
here..  I wager, however, that most people would also agree, that if it 
were to be done anew, that for that purpose, a plain text file would 
have many advantages over an opaque binary file.

mkb.