Richard Salts wrote:
>
> Hi, list;
>
> When only one person ever uses their own computer and they want Linux
> installed, is it _really_necessary_ for these people to have to login, &
> give a password to get into their own computer if no one else ever uses it?
> Is there some means that an individual user can get out of having to do this?
Yes, there are methods. But if the computer is _ever_ on the
internet (via a dialup account and modem), then this will not
work. Anybody can simply telnet to the box and hit the enter
key (or maybe nothing at all) and there is the prompt.
You must keep in mind that "one person ever uses the computer"
means just that: a computer with NO outside connections of
any sort.
The second thing to keep in mind is that there are usually
TWO users to every computer. The first is ROOT, and the second
is the user. It is not a good idea to be logged in as root
all the time; in fact, some things will not work as root.
For instance, if you subscribe to the RedHat mailing list
as user root (regardless what your email address is), the
subscription requests (or posts) will be ignored. Root user
is detectable.
Another drawback of user root is the amount of email he gets
from the system, which is annoying. And lastly, there is no
protection of any sort in Linux against a wrong keystroke. It
is not like Win95 with endless messages of "Are you Really Sure
you wnat to do this?" In Linux, when you hit the enter key
the system assumes you meant what you said, and has NO mercy.
As a non-root user there is a degree of protection, but as root
there is not a chance.
Having said all that, you can probably set up one of the
virtual consoles (physical keyboard, not a telnet connection)
to auto-login as whatever you want. I do not recall exactly,
but I think it is one of the mingetty options in the /etc/inittab
file. This is probably fairly safe, although it would have the
disadvantage that the person using it falls into a certain set
of habits that other Linux users do not have. A visitor to the
house could have undesired effects. There would be no way to
secure the box.
--
Ramon Gandia --- Sysadmin --- http://www.nook.net
285 West 1st Avenue ISP for Western Alaska
P.O. Box 970 tel. 907-443-7575
Nome, Alaska 99762 fax. 907-443-2487
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