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From: dan@haddock.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Re: how do you handle multiple accounts? - (nf)
Message-ID: <210@haddock.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Jul-84 23:47:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: haddock.210
Posted: Tue Jul 10 23:47:36 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 18-Jul-84 03:41:49 EDT
Lines: 22

#R:sri-arpa:-146000:haddock:16700028:000:1019
haddock!dan    Jul  9 21:27:00 1984

Accounts for courses: solution (1), adding account strings, is too much
work.  Solution (2) isn't bad except for the 8-char limit on user names
(unless Pyramid has fixed that).

Better than either, though, is to use UNIX groups.  The accounting software
already knows about groups, so you won't have to change it (except to add
better reporting options if you want).	The student can change from one
course assignment to another just by saying 'newgrp', and/or change the
default group assignment in /etc/passwd (through a suitable program, of
course--if you don't have one already, it's easy to write).

Groups have the additional advantage that if you want, you can enforce
their use by making key files for each course readable only by the
appropriate group.

If you're already using groups for something else (like separating
students from teachers), it doesn't matter; since Pyramid has 4.2bsd,
it supports multiple simultaneous groups.  Thus a professor can be
in groups "staff" and "algorithms" at the same time.