Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!amelia!pioneer.arc.nasa.gov!samlb
From: samlb@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Sam Bassett RCS)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: loginid vs. uid.
Message-ID: <7342@amelia.nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 13 Jul 90 18:38:59 GMT
References: <316@dynasys.UUCP>
Sender: news@amelia.nas.nasa.gov
Reply-To: samlb@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov.UUCP (Sam Bassett RCS)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.
Lines: 14


	UNIX uses the numerical UID to determine who owns a given file --
it is entered into one of the fields in the inode (gnode, vnode) which
identifies each file on the disk.
	When UNIX needs to know or output the userid (ASCII string which
identifies a user), it looks in the /etc/passwd file for the userid which
is associated with the UID number.

	RTFM 'man [45] passwd'

Sam'l Bassett, Sterling Software @ NASA Ames Research Center, 
Moffett Field CA 94035 Work: (415) 604-4792;  Home: (415) 969-2644
samlb@well.sf.ca.us                     samlb@ames.arc.nasa.gov 
<Disclaimer> := 'Sterling doesn't _have_ opinions -- much less NASA!'