[newbie] Login passwords
Hi, list; When only one person ever uses their own computer and they want Linux installed, is it _really_necessary_ for these people to have to login, give a password to get into their own computer if no one else ever uses it? Is there some means that an individual user can get out of having to do this?
Re: [newbie] Login passwords
Separate logins are necessary to protect you from yourself. Root has unrestricted access to every file on your system, thus making it very easy for you to screw things up royally if you don't know what you are doing. Unless you are performing system maintenance you want to login as a restricted user. Richard Salts wrote: Hi, list; When only one person ever uses their own computer and they want Linux installed, is it _really_necessary_ for these people to have to login, give a password to get into their own computer if no one else ever uses it? Is there some means that an individual user can get out of having to do this?
Re: [newbie] Login passwords
Here's a thought for you. What if somebody comes in and steals your PC. I have a password on my BIOS so if some Ba*tard steals it, all he gets is a doorstop. Maybe if someone knows what they are doing they could clear this, but I want to make it damn difficult. I had my house broke into last year and they took a VCR, TV and camcorder. I doubt they saw my PC in the other room and the dog probably woke up by then, but the neighbor across the street lost tons of stuff. My point, if we all used passwords on PCs like we put locks on our houses, those lowlifes would have less motivation to steal our stuff. /*rant off Brian -Original Message- From: Richard Salts [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi, list; When only one person ever uses their own computer and they want Linux installed, is it _really_necessary_ for these people to have to login, give a password to get into their own computer if no one else ever uses it? Is there some means that an individual user can get out of having to do this?
Re: [newbie] Login passwords
Richard Salts wrote: Hi, list; When only one person ever uses their own computer and they want Linux installed, is it _really_necessary_ for these people to have to login, give a password to get into their own computer if no one else ever uses it? Is there some means that an individual user can get out of having to do this? Yes, there are methods. But if the computer is _ever_ on the internet (via a dialup account and modem), then this will not work. Anybody can simply telnet to the box and hit the enter key (or maybe nothing at all) and there is the prompt. You must keep in mind that "one person ever uses the computer" means just that: a computer with NO outside connections of any sort. The second thing to keep in mind is that there are usually TWO users to every computer. The first is ROOT, and the second is the user. It is not a good idea to be logged in as root all the time; in fact, some things will not work as root. For instance, if you subscribe to the RedHat mailing list as user root (regardless what your email address is), the subscription requests (or posts) will be ignored. Root user is detectable. Another drawback of user root is the amount of email he gets from the system, which is annoying. And lastly, there is no protection of any sort in Linux against a wrong keystroke. It is not like Win95 with endless messages of "Are you Really Sure you wnat to do this?" In Linux, when you hit the enter key the system assumes you meant what you said, and has NO mercy. As a non-root user there is a degree of protection, but as root there is not a chance. Having said all that, you can probably set up one of the virtual consoles (physical keyboard, not a telnet connection) to auto-login as whatever you want. I do not recall exactly, but I think it is one of the mingetty options in the /etc/inittab file. This is probably fairly safe, although it would have the disadvantage that the person using it falls into a certain set of habits that other Linux users do not have. A visitor to the house could have undesired effects. There would be no way to secure the box. -- Ramon Gandia ---Sysadmin --- http://www.nook.net 285 West 1st Avenue ISP for Western Alaska P.O. Box 970 tel. 907-443-7575 Nome, Alaska 99762fax. 907-443-2487 ===
Re: [newbie] Login passwords
A bios password is totally useless. Bioses can be reset in different ways. Either by removing the battery and putting it back, or if the battery is soldered on the MB, by removing and putting back the bios chip. Some MB's have jumpers to reset a bios. Absolute security for a PC is inexistant Patrick - Original Message - From: Ripcrd6 [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 9:29 PM Subject: Re: [newbie] Login passwords Here's a thought for you. What if somebody comes in and steals your PC. I have a password on my BIOS so if some Ba*tard steals it, all he gets is a doorstop. Maybe if someone knows what they are doing they could clear this, but I want to make it damn difficult. I had my house broke into last year and they took a VCR, TV and camcorder. I doubt they saw my PC in the other room and the dog probably woke up by then, but the neighbor across the street lost tons of stuff. My point, if we all used passwords on PCs like we put locks on our houses, those lowlifes would have less motivation to steal our stuff. /*rant off Brian -Original Message- From: Richard Salts [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi, list; When only one person ever uses their own computer and they want Linux installed, is it _really_necessary_ for these people to have to login, give a password to get into their own computer if no one else ever uses it? Is there some means that an individual user can get out of having to do this?
Re: [newbie] Login passwords
I agree with Brian... On Wed, 14 Jul 1999, Ripcrd6 wrote: Here's a thought for you. What if somebody comes in and steals your PC. I have a password on my BIOS so if some Ba*tard steals it, all he gets is a doorstop. Maybe if someone knows what they are doing they could clear this, but I want to make it damn difficult. I had my house broke into last year and they took a VCR, TV and camcorder. I doubt they saw my PC in the other room and the dog probably woke up by then, but the neighbor across the street lost tons of stuff. My point, if we all used passwords on PCs like we put locks on our houses, those lowlifes would have less motivation to steal our stuff. /*rant off Brian
Re: [newbie] Login passwords
Yes you really need logins and passwords, there is a nice work around if the site is secure (eg, your house) use rungetty, you'll beable to have it spawn shells or X servers as the specified user (don't ever do this with the root login, imagine your dogs/cats/kids/whoever eraseing the whole pc with a typo into the wrong screen or dropping the keyboard) On Wed, 14 Jul 1999, Richard Salts wrote: Hi, list; When only one person ever uses their own computer and they want Linux installed, is it _really_necessary_ for these people to have to login, give a password to get into their own computer if no one else ever uses it? Is there some means that an individual user can get out of having to do this?
