Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ncar!hsdndev!cmcl2!adm!news
From: aeba-im-o-e2@berlin-emh1.army.mil ( IM EMAIL ASST SYS ADMIN)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re:  What does '*' symbol in /etc/passwd means?
Message-ID: <27176@adm.brl.mil>
Date: 12 Jun 91 12:32:28 GMT
Sender: news@adm.brl.mil
Lines: 21

>>Also, could be a convention for locking the login.  If the superuser
>>had typed in the '*', then noone can log in as bin.  I know of several
>>systems that used the '*' symbol to lock logins.  "used" is past tense
>>because they ran into problems using it as it is a UNIX metacharacter.
                                                   ^^^^^^^ a lie ^^^^^

A few people have asked me to be specific about what problems were had.
Well, I lied.  The problem was not due to the fact that '*' can be special.
After checking with the person that told me not to use '*' in the password
field, I find that the real reason was that the security scripts in Hayden's
UNIX System Security by Kochan and Wood would choke on the '*'.

flames to,

Ken Gibson
_______________________________________________________________________
|  SGT Kendrick J. Gibson          aeba-im-o-e2@berlin-emh1.army.mil  |
|  Asst. System Administrator; U.S. Army Berlin Electronic-mail Host  |
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