Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!samsung!uunet!convex!usenet
From: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Length of User names
Message-ID: <1991Jun01.144752.22884@convex.com>
Date: 1 Jun 91 14:47:52 GMT
References: <27070@adm.brl.mil> <1991May31.173152.791@mlb.semi.harris.com> <1991May31.215301.7574@solbourne.com>
Sender: usenet@convex.com (news access account)
Reply-To: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Organization: CONVEX Software Development, Richardson, TX
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Nntp-Posting-Host: pixel.convex.com

From the keyboard of imp@solbourne.com (Warner Losh):
:In article <1991May31.173152.791@mlb.semi.harris.com>
:dcb@dave.mis.semi.harris.com (Dave Brillhart) writes:
:>At Harris, we finally decided to use the VMS standard of first
:>initial last name (truncated to 8 characters).  Kind of a  pain :-( 
:
:This is especially a *PAIN* when the system administrator sees "M.
:Warner Losh" and gives you the login "mlosh" and people send mail to
:"wlosh" since your name is Warner.  Fee and a pox be on all ye that
:try to standarize login names.

Most sendmail configurations will accept mail to firstname.lastname
or firstname_lastname instead of to that person's login.  No fuzzy
logic involved, though: it has to match the gcos field exactly, 
modulo case of course.   Why not just tell people to do this?  Finger
can also help to locate login names.

--tom
--
Tom Christiansen		tchrist@convex.com	convex!tchrist
		"So much mail, so little time."