On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 11:04 AM, Sami Kerola <kerolasa@xxxxxx> wrote: >> PS: the section about the wheel group can be removed :) > > I think keeping some sort of note about wheel group not being checked > is valid information, but does it have to be RMS story is different > question. I'll have a look of that at evening. I changed the original patch doing the following. Do you, or anyone else, have other suggestions how the manual page could be better? https://raw.github.com/kerolasa/lelux-utiliteetit/su.1/login-utils/su.1 diff --git a/login-utils/su.1 b/login-utils/su.1 index 1847325..8eac714 100644 --- a/login-utils/su.1 +++ b/login-utils/su.1 @@ -41,10 +41,11 @@ setting argv[0] to -su, passing -c only to certain shells, etc.). can optionally be compiled to use syslog to report failed, and optionally successful, .B su -attempts. (If the system supports syslog.) However, +attempts. (If the system supports syslog.) +.PP +This implementation of .B su -does not check if the user is a member of the wheel group; see -.BR NOTES . +does not check if the user is a member of the wheel group. .SH OPTIONS .TP \fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-command\fR [\fIcommand\fR] @@ -133,30 +134,6 @@ subshell cannot be found .B /etc/pam.d/su PAM configuration for .BR su . -.SH NOTES -Why -.B su -does not support the -.I wheel -group by Richard Stallman. -.PP -Sometimes a few of the users try to hold total power over all the -rest. For example, in 1984, a few users at the MIT AI lab decided to -seize power by changing the operator password on the Twenex system -and keeping it secret from everyone else. (I was able to thwart this -coup and give power back to the users by patching the kernel, but I -wouldn't know how to do that in Unix.) -.PP -However, occasionally the rulers do tell someone. Under the usual -.B su -mechanism, once someone learns the root password who sympathizes with -the ordinary users, he or she can tell the rest. The "wheel group" -feature would make this impossible, and thus cement the power of the -rulers. -.PP -I'm on the side of the masses, not that of the rulers. If you are -used to supporting the bosses and sysadmins in whatever they do, you -might find this idea strange at first. .SH AUTHORS .MT djm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx David MacKenzie -- Sami Kerola http://www.iki.fi/kerolasa/ -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe util-linux" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
