I too am mystified by this particular example, but the general question you
pose, Lawson, can be answered by other examples ... depending, of course, on
the meaning of "system configuration file" -- I don't want to initiate an
exchange of quibbles here, just suggest the range of possibilities.
At least some implementations of the DHCP client program rewrite the file
/etd/resolv.conf to add the nameservers supplied by the DHCP lease; I think
of this as a feature of DHCP client, not an intrusion. Many distributions
have rc* files that rewrite the system message that appears at login to
restore a default, even if it was changed for the current boot. And let's
not forget plain old carelessness -- my (Debian) version of the DHCP client
package came with an init.d script that carelessly deleted a file that the
dhcpcd man page carefully explained how to create (the file that runs as a
user-defined script whenever a new lease is received - very important file).
So ... I wonder if what we are seeing here is similar to any of these
examples ... more likely the second, I suppose. What Linux distribution is
involved, what version, what kernel version, and what boot procedure (is it
a standard LILO boot?). I can't find the original message in this thread,
but I note that others from Mr. Kilaru refer to RH 5.2. The question: is
there something in the boot procedure that causes /etc/inittab to revert to
an as-distributed version? (What is the timestamp on /etc/inittab after one
of these reversions occurs, for example?)
At 12:02 PM 11/30/99 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote [in part]:
>On consideration by the light of day, that is clear, but I still don't
>understand it :-). I don't know of any program that would take it upon
>itself to change a system configuration file except with the advice and
>consent of the system administrator.
>On Tue, 30 Nov 1999, K Sambaiah wrote:
>> > > V1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -x 2 -s 115200 -n 1 -D ttyS1
>> What I mean is with out me changing manually the line becomes
>> #V1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -x 2 -s 115200 -n 1 -D ttyS1
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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