dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) (08/25/87)
Summary:
Torture-testing the "screen" program, which allows multiple
virtual terminals to be created, I found that it is possible
to get spurious entries in /etc/utmp.
Software:
4.3BSD straight from Berkeley, obtained around September 1986.
Hardware:
VAX-11/785.
Symptoms:
After a user logs out from a new login session that was running under
control of "screen", the user's name is still in /etc/utmp and
the "who" command will show the user still logged in.
Repeat-By:
1. Invoke "screen".
2. Execute /bin/login by typing "/bin/login".
3. Log normally at the login prompt.
4. Log out normally.
5. Use the "who" or "w" command and observe that you are shown
logged in twice.
Comments:
It's a bit disconcerting to be able to create an entry in
/etc/utmp that doesn't seem to get removed. This confuses my
timeout program, because it examines /etc/utmp to look for idle
users.
--
Rahul Dhesi UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo}!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi