Chris <chris@ormond.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> I am packaging a program that uses directly accesses the password file.
> It has a compile time option to determine if it should be using shadow
> passwords or not.
The policy says quite clearly (I think, I just got it banged in my head :) that
any package MAY NOT modify other packages files. /etc/{passwd,group,shadow,gshadow}
is owned by the 'shadow' package, so only programs in that package may change
the user database.
That said, use 'useradd' and 'groupadd' to create users and group. You may NOT
modify the files yourself (or your program).
I did that with xAdmin, I did not know about this policy issue (or had forgot
all about it), and was forcefully reminded about it...
> My question is: Can I produce a package that only supports shadow
> passwords, or will I need to modify the code to autodetect if shadow
> passwords are on or not.
[read above. NO]
PS. This should not be read as a flame or a hars reply, just as a information
to you (and to my self) that reading the Policy pages is a good thing...
*blush* :)
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