"login APIs" vary widely from system to system. Classic Unix systems use calls like getpwent and crypt to check passwords, and then call setuid, setgid and setgroups to set the identity of the user who is logging in. These are all available in stock Python, check the library reference for more details. Other login-time activities, like writing utmp entries, may not be directly available in stock Python modules.
Many modern Linux systems use something called 'pam' for login-related activities, and there seems to be something called 'python-pam' out there, but I've never used it. Graphical login managers have their own additional requirements, such as starting and stopping the X server, managing the X authentication information, etc. Jeff
pgpGY28NFZu6j.pgp
Description: PGP signature
-- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
