I wrote:
>> identd is an authentication mechanism used primarily by sendmail I believe.
>> It is normally started out of inetd, but I'm a little confused about why
>> it's showing up so many times in your process table - unless you were
>> sending/receiving mail at the time and that might explain it. It's mostly
>> a matter of preference whether you run it or not - I normally don't,
>> someone else might be able to explain why it's important that you do.
Patrick Colbeck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> replied:
>Ident is a protcol that lets you quirey a machine for some info so long
>as it is running an ident demon (identd in the case of Linux). Some mail
>servers will quirey your machine using ident before they will accept
>mail from you. This is not that common but does happen and can be a real
>headache to work out why your mail is rejected unless you know about
>this. Also some IRC servers check you out with ident. It is considered
>by many people to be a security risk and so it is often advised that it
>should be disabled, just remeber if something rejects your mail that
>might be why.
Thanks for the clarification. I knew mail servers could use it (although
many don't), but I didn't know IRC might as well. I normally leave it
disabled, but I'll remember to keep it in mind if I start having trouble
with bounced mail or IRC.
>tel: you dont seriously expect me to
> give that out on the internet do you ?
Thanks, I needed the laugh today! ;-)
-Eric
Eric Sisler
Library Computer Technician
Westminster Public Library
Westminster, CO, USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Linux - don't fear the Penguin.
Want to know what we use Linux for?
Visit http://gromit.westminster.lib.co.us/linux
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