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From: merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal Schwartz)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Password entry
Message-ID: <4844@omepd.UUCP>
Date: 23 Aug 89 23:10:26 GMT
References: <10975@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Sender: news@omepd.UUCP
Reply-To: merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal Schwartz)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Stonehenge; netaccess via Intel, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
Lines: 23
In-reply-to: bobk@fred.colorado.edu (Bob Kinne)

In article <10975@boulder.Colorado.EDU>, bobk@fred (Bob Kinne) writes:
| What is the purpose of the following /etc/passwd entry?
| 
| ::0:0:::	(null login, password, and shell)
| 
| Thanks.

[do I dare say this?... ]

It's so that you can login as root without knowing the root password.
(Now, if you can just figure out how... hee hee.)

[there, I said it...]

Actually, it's the result of a bug.  Some sysadmin at your site edited
the password file and added some blank lines.

TELL YOUR SYSADMIN to remove these lines.
-- 
/== Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 ====\
| on contract to Intel, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA                           |
| merlyn@iwarp.intel.com ...!uunet!iwarp.intel.com!merlyn	         |
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