Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ncar!gatech!prism!gs26
From: gs26@prism.gatech.EDU (Glenn R. Stone)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.aix
Subject: Re: Miscellaneous questions - RS6000
Message-ID: <18443@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Date: 11 Dec 90 02:26:07 GMT
References: <4585@idunno.Princeton.EDU> <125@edi386.UUCP>
Organization: Dead Poets Society
Lines: 20

In <125@edi386.UUCP> eddjp@edi386.UUCP ( Dewey Paciaffi ) writes:

>In article <4585@idunno.Princeton.EDU> ijlustig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Irvin Lustig) writes:
>-1) Occasionally, a user will log out from the machine, but who and
>-   finger show the user as still logged in.  finger will show the
>-   user as being idle for many many days (sometimes 300 days!).
>Yes,  I've seen this and no longer trust the output of 'w', 'who', and
>'last'. Something is screwy in AIX's perception of who's logged in and
>who isn't.

The '6000 is not the only place I've seen this behaviour; Sun 3/60's 
running SunOS 3.5 and 4.0.3 will do this too.  I think it has something
to do with the way /etc/utmp is (not) written....  Rebooting the 
machine invariably clears the problem, for what it's worth...

I've not seen last do what it does on the '6000 elsewhere, though.
That phenomenon is entirely unique....

-- Glenn R. Stone
gs26@prism.gatech.edu