Re: Isn't it a security hole...
On 16 Aug 1996, Rob Browning wrote:
> It's too bad we can't support longer passwords. Not only are longer
> ones easier to remember sometimes, but they are harder to break.
> Something along the lines of the PGP passphrase.
I've noticed something curious on various Unices: I can have a
27-character-long password any time I want. For logins, though, login
only cares about the first eight characters. But to change the password,
I have to enter the entire thing.
I haven't tried this on Linux (yet); I'm talking more along the
lines of SunOS, Solaris 2.x, maybe AIX 3.x.
> I'm sure there's some historical, or backward compatibility reason why
> we can't...
Sure, that's probably the reason. The cult of "backward
compatibility" IS, after all, responsible for far more heinous crimes,
such as DOS' longevity...
David winters+@pitt.edu aka winters+@cs.cmu.edu
Office: 3503 WeH, x86720
Go to http://www.harrybrowne96.org/
MTFBWY
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