Maybe - last time I tried - I mistyped the login - because login from console is working for both - thanks for the reply.
re: root login on sshd - guess I need to read more carefully. I know about the cipher changes starting with OpenSSH 6.7, but had not yet stumbled on anything extra blocking root login.
My apologies for a false statement! Must test again and again (so I will have to reload ubuntu, opensles and fedora to see which ones of those refuse root login at console. If both are blocked (with the newer openssh) may make some maintenance work difficult.
Further - any interest in a different (in what way please) story on installing debian on PowerVM enabled systems?