jessea@dynasys.UUCP (Jesse W. Asher) (11/05/90)
I was wondering how the various information in the 5th field of the passwd
file is used (gcos field? - is this correct?). I know you can put comma's
in it for certain systems for expiration of passwords. Is this information
absolutely required? Is it permissible to put _only_ the persons real name?
I'm not really interested in SysV 3.2 or higher as I'm running that and know
how that works. I'm interested in other systems that don't handle this
field in quite the same way (I'm writing a utility to add user's and would
like to make it portable if I can). Thanx for any information you can
provide.
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Jesse W. Asher Phone: (901)382-1609
6196-1 Macon Rd., Suite 200, Memphis, TN 38134
UUCP: {fedeva,chromc,rutgers}!dynasys!jessea
-> Money is the root of all wealth.samlb@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Sam Bassett RCS) (11/06/90)
As far as I know, every UNIX implemetation handles the so-called GCOS field differently -- the Ultrix 'finger' command uses the info there to produce display one way, Suns do it another, and SGI machines yet a third. There is really no "standard" meaning for the contents of this field -- it is just "sorta used for names". Sam'l Bassett, Sterling Software @ NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA 94035 Work: (415) 604-4792; Home: (415) 969-2644 samlb@well.sf.ca.us samlb@ames.arc.nasa.gov <Disclaimer> := 'Sterling doesn't _have_ opinions -- much less NASA!'
cbradley@blackbox.lonestar.org (Chris Bradley) (11/08/90)
In article <1990Nov6.045108.20266@riacs.edu> samlb@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Sam Bassett RCS) writes: > > As far as I know, every UNIX implemetation handles the so-called >GCOS field differently -- the Ultrix 'finger' command uses the info there >to produce display one way, Suns do it another, and SGI machines yet a >third. There is really no "standard" meaning for the contents of this >field -- it is just "sorta used for names". > What is the `real' acronym? I've seen both `GCOS' (in this thread) and `GECOS' (in the docs for C News, I think)? What is the correct expansion of the acronym? -- Chris Bradley | "I confess freely to you, I could never look Businessland Advanced Systems | long upon a monkey, without very mortifying Dallas, Texas US | reflections." cbradley@blackbox.lonestar.org | -- WILLIAM CONGREVE 1670-1729
chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek) (11/09/90)
In article <1990Nov8.060424.1828@blackbox.lonestar.org> cbradley@blackbox.lonestar.org (Chris Bradley) writes: >What is the `real' acronym? I've seen both `GCOS' (in this thread) and >`GECOS' (in the docs for C News, I think)? They are both correct: >What is the correct expansion of the acronym? GCOS stands for General Comprehensive Operating System, which was the name of something that ran on a Honeywell series. Then GE bought in on the deal and renamed it the `General Electric C.O.S.' Historical types and lazy people therefore type `gcos'; others use `gecos'. You get to guess whether I am being historical or lazy when I use `gcos'. :-) -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 405 2750) Domain: chris@cs.umd.edu Path: uunet!mimsy!chris
chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek) (11/09/90)
[Article <27543@mimsy.umd.edu>, with a backwards answer, has been cancelled] In article <1990Nov8.060424.1828@blackbox.lonestar.org> cbradley@blackbox.lonestar.org (Chris Bradley) writes: >What is the `real' acronym? I've seen both `GCOS' (in this thread) and >`GECOS' (in the docs for C News, I think)? They are both correct: >What is the correct expansion of the acronym? GECOS stands for General Electric Comprehensive Operating System, which was the name of something that ran on a GE machine. Then Honeywell bought in on the deal and tried to etiolate% the E by renaming it the `General C.O.S.' Revisionists and lazy people therefore type `gcos'; others use `gecos'. You get to guess whether I am being revisionist or lazy when I use `gcos'. :-) ----- % etiolate, v.t. & i. to bleach by lack of sunlight
williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams) (11/09/90)
In article <1990Nov8.060424.1828@blackbox.lonestar.org> cbradley@blackbox.lonestar.org (Chris Bradley) writes: > >What is the `real' acronym? I've seen both `GCOS' (in this thread) and >`GECOS' (in the docs for C News, I think)? > >What is the correct expansion of the acronym? > >-- >Chris Bradley | "I confess freely to you, I could never look >Businessland Advanced Systems | long upon a monkey, without very mortifying >Dallas, Texas US | reflections." >cbradley@blackbox.lonestar.org | -- WILLIAM CONGREVE 1670-1729 In "Life with Unix", by Libes and Ressler, they say, on page 207, "GCOS field. Typically the user's complete name. It can also contain other things such as a phone number, or silly comment. In other words, it isn't defined. It is called the GCOS field historically because it was originally used to define an accounting ID that was submitted with remote batch jobs to the GCOS system at Bell Labs." My ancient 7th Edition manuals state that the GCOS field contains the "GCOS job number, box number, optional GCOS user-id" and that "the GCOS field is used only when communicating with that system, and in other installations can contain any desired information." None of this says what GCOS stands for, of course. I've never seen it spelled "GECOS" anywhere but in net messages. Jim Spoken: Jim Williams Domain: williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov Phone: +1 301 286-4405 UUCP: uunet!mimsy!williams USPS: NASA/GSFC, Code 633, Greenbelt, MD 20771 Motto: There is no 'd' in "kluge"! It rhymes with "huge", not "sludge".
flank@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Brett Jacobson) (11/10/90)
In article <3851@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> williams@nssdcs.UUCP (Jim Williams) writes: >In article <1990Nov8.060424.1828@blackbox.lonestar.org> cbradley@blackbox.lonestar.org (Chris Bradley) writes: >> >>What is the `real' acronym? I've seen both `GCOS' (in this thread) and >>`GECOS' (in the docs for C News, I think)? >> >>What is the correct expansion of the acronym? >> > >None of this says what GCOS stands for, of course. I've never seen it >spelled "GECOS" anywhere but in net messages. > >Jim (Forwarded) This is what I know about GECOS (The correct abreviation). General Electric Comprehensive Operating System When GE's large systems division was sold to Honeywell, Honeywell dropped the "E" from "GECOS". It then became known simply as General Comprehensive Operating System. Unix's password file has a "pw_gecos" field. The name is a real holdover from the early days. According to Dennis Ritchie: "Sometimes we sent printer output or batch jobs to the GCOS machine. The gcos field in the password file was a place to stash the information for the $IDENT card. Not elegant." This is according to my V6 manuals. As of V7, the OS had been sold, and the name changed. This whole field stems from MULTICS in the far past, and then the original derivation UNICS. Chris Petrilli petrilli@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (512)327-0986 Austin, TX
richard@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin) (11/12/90)
In article <27543@mimsy.umd.edu> chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek) writes: >Historical types and lazy people therefore type `gcos'; others use >`gecos'. You get to guess whether I am being historical or lazy when >I use `gcos'. :-) In article <27549@mimsy.umd.edu> he writes: >Revisionists and lazy people therefore type `gcos'; others use >`gecos'. You get to guess whether I am being revisionist or lazy when >I use `gcos'. :-) I think the combination of these two messages makes it pretty clear why Chris uses `gcos'. :-) -- Richard -- Richard Tobin, JANET: R.Tobin@uk.ac.ed AI Applications Institute, ARPA: R.Tobin%uk.ac.ed@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk Edinburgh University. UUCP: ...!ukc!ed.ac.uk!R.Tobin
lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) (11/13/90)
In article <3736@skye.ed.ac.uk> richard@aiai.UUCP (Richard Tobin) writes: : In article <27543@mimsy.umd.edu> chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek) writes: : >Historical types and lazy people therefore type `gcos'; others use : >`gecos'. You get to guess whether I am being historical or lazy when : >I use `gcos'. :-) : : In article <27549@mimsy.umd.edu> he writes: : >Revisionists and lazy people therefore type `gcos'; others use : >`gecos'. You get to guess whether I am being revisionist or lazy when : >I use `gcos'. :-) : : I think the combination of these two messages makes it pretty clear : why Chris uses `gcos'. I don't think Chris is lazy enough to revise history, unless of course you're intending to revise the history of his laziness. Larry Wall lwall@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov
jfh@rpp386.cactus.org (John F. Haugh II) (11/14/90)
In article <3851@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> williams@nssdcs.UUCP (Jim Williams) writes: >"GCOS field. Typically the user's complete name. It can also contain other >things such as a phone number, or silly comment. In other words, it isn't >defined. It is called the GCOS field historically because it was originally >used to define an accounting ID that was submitted with remote batch jobs to >the GCOS system at Bell Labs." I'd say that what BSD does with it is about as close a definition as one gets. finger(1) "knows" where the various pieces of information all live, and I believe it is the only program anymore which cares. The BSD chfn command will prompt for the appropriate information and splatter it all over the password file for you. The source to a "chfn" was posted to alt.sources a while back. You might try digging around an archive site somewheres. -- John F. Haugh II UUCP: ...!cs.utexas.edu!rpp386!jfh Ma Bell: (512) 832-8832 Domain: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org "SCCS, the source motel! Programs check in and never check out!" -- Ken Thompson