FLYNN%EVALUN11.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Mark F. Flynn) (03/01/91)
======================================================================== We have just reveived an HP Apollo workstation running HP-UX. I have noticed that the user bin has the password disabled. The HP rep here told me that this is meant to stay this way, as bin is a special user, meaning one isn't supposed to use it. I had always thought that bin was there to allow one to manage the various bin and lib directories without using the (dangerous) powers of root. Who is right? Mark Flynn Departamento de Fisica Atomica y Nuclear Universidad de Granada Spain
Cory_Janick.Henr801h@xerox.com (03/02/91)
QUESTION: We have just reveived an HP Apollo workstation running HP-UX. I have noticed that the user bin has the password disabled. The HP rep here told me that this is meant to stay this way, as bin is a special user, meaning one isn't supposed to use it. I had always thought that bin was there to allow one to manage the various bin and lib directories without using the (dangerous) powers of root. Who is right? Mark Flynn Departamento de Fisica Atomica y Nuclear Universidad de Granada Spain REPLY: I believe that it depends on the flavor of Unix you are using. When I was a systems programmer using HP9000 machines I was told that the bin and lib user ids were there so that certain files could be owned by bin and lib. Most of the maintenance should be done through the SAM and other system maintenance and installation utilities (so I was told.). If you decide you need to use the ids then you can change the password.